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« Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Men’s basketball at LSU, 8 p.m. Wednesday ■ Women’s basketball at Auburn, 8 p.m. Thursday ■ Men’s basketball vs. Kentucky, 1 p.m. Saturday ■ Baseball vs. Wofford, 1:30 p.m. Saturday % Gamecocks lose second straight Florida redeems itself in rematch, Carolina now last in SEC East by Casey White The Gamecock The South Carolina men’s basketball team traveled to Florida on Saturday with high hopes for turning around their road and SEC records. Unfortunately for USC, the Gators were well prepared to take on the % Gamecocks and downed them in Gainesville, 69-57. For the Gators (134,3-3 SEC), the win was their second straight for the first time since late December. The Gamecocks (10-7,24), however, have lost their second straight game, five of their last seven, and are alone at the bottom of the SEC East standings. “We continue to make bad decisions down the stretch in close games,” South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler said. “For the most part, our first 35 minutes were good, competitive basketball.” Though both teams were playing with a debilitated starting lineup, the remaining players on both sides stepped .1 1 11 _ A T 11.1. up tu uic cuaiicngc. rvaiuu L^ucas icu uic Gamecocks with 14 points and five assists, and Rolando Howell contributed 11 points and four rebounds. ^ Sophomore Tony Kitchings surmounted his team-leading average of 7.2 rebounds to bring down nine rebounds for the game. For Florida, Brett Nelson had an outstanding game, breaking his average of 13.4 points per game to score 22 points, 16 of which were in the first half. Reserves Matt Bonner and LaDarius Halton combined for 29 points. The first half looked to be a repeat of the teams’ Jan. 7 match-up in Columbia, as a tight match ensued between the SEC rivals. The Gators took an early 22-13 lead, but the Gamecocks battled back with a 13-4 run. Nelson scored seven of the half’s last nine points to take Florida into the locker room with a 36-33 lead. 69 57 The second half continued to be a neck-and-neck battle between the teams, and the game was tied at 55 with five minutes remaining. Bonner came alive for Florida in the clutch, however, scoring six points in a 14-2 Florida run that gave the Gators the victory. Bonner’s put-back with five minutes left in the game broke the tie, and he took the lead to four after making a layup off Halton’s pass. Florida’s momentum shut down the Gamecocks’ efforts as Nelson made two consecutive steals, sunk two free throws and completed a full-court score to take the score to 63-55. “It was a meltdown,” USC forward David Ross said. “It was tied with five minutes to go, and we made a couple of poor decisions. It led to some easy buckets for them and got the crowd back in the game. Momentum started to swing, and things disintegrated from there.” Overall, mistakes were the main contributor in the loss, as South Carolina turned the ball over five times during the crucial last five minutes. USC committed 18 turnovers that translated into 28 Gator points. The Gatois also managed to silence the Gamecocks’ field goal efforts in the final seven minutes, making a rally all but impossible. With the loss, hopes for the Gamecocks to make the NCAA Tourna ment are diminishing, but the team is not ready to admit defeat. “We feel like we’re definitely ap NCAA team,” USC’s Antonio Grant said. They still have ten games to prove themselves. ■ * The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com January 27,2001, Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla. ♦ No. 14 FLORIDA 69, SOUTH CAROLINA 57 SOUTH CAROLINA (10-7,2-4 SEC)) Petravicius 0-1 2-2 2, Grant 2-7 3-3 8, Kitchings 3-5 1-2 7, Lucas 5-14 3-4 14, Bradley 4-10 0-0 9, Ross 2-9 0-0 6, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Boynton 0B 0 1 0, Howell 5-7 1-2 11. Totals 21-54 10-14 57. FLORIDA (13-4,3-3) Parker 0-3 0B 0, Bonner 7-15 2-2 18, Haslem 1-4 2-2 4, Nelson 8-19 4 4 22, Halton 4-7 0-011, Wright 34 4-6 11, Greene 1-6 0-03, Kliewer 0-00 0 0, Colas 0-0 0B 0. Totals 24-58 12-14 69. Halftime—Florida 36-33.3-Point goals—South Carolina 5-27 (Ross 2-8, Lu cas 1-5, Grant 1-6, Bradley 1-7, Taylor 0-1), Florida 9-23 (Halton 3-5, Bon ner 2-6, Nelson 2-6, Wright 1-1, Greene 14, Parker 0-1). Fouled out— None. Rebounds—South Carolina 34 (Kitchings 9), Florida 36 (Bonner, Nelson 7). Assists—11 (Lucas 5), Florida 17 (Green 3). Total fouls—South Carolina 15, Florida 14. A—11,855. Sean Rayford/The Gamecock USC’s Antonio Grant pump-fakes against Vanderbilt earlier this season. Grant and the Gamecocks now find themselves at the bottom of the SEC East standings after losing 69-57 to Florida on Saturday. Gamecock 1 0 track team continues to roll over opponents ■ USC athletes post 10 NCAA qualifying times by Kyle Almond The Gamecock The Gamecock track and field teams split up this weekend to compete m a pair 01 meets. Several athletes traveled to East Tennessee State University to take part in an invitational meet, but USC did most of its damage at the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville. The Gamecocks put up 10 NCAA qualifying times in Arkansas, two of which were automatic. USC was sparked by both its men and women’s 4X400-meter relay teams. The men set a school-record time of 3:07.45, while the women earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships with their time of 3:35.85. The other automatic time was posted by men’s sprinter Pap Howard. Howard’s time of 21.27 seconds in the 200-meter dash was enough to qualify him for the season-ending competition. Other Gamecock men who set NCAA provisional times were Gerald Pressley (400-meters), Otuk ile Lekote (800-meters) and Corey Taylor (60-meter hurdles). On the women’s side, Olympian Miki Barber set a provisional mark in the 400-meters with a time of 53.59. Demetria Washington qualified in the 200 with a time of 23.75. Hurdler Jackie Madison qualified in the 60-meter hurdles, anH AntninPttP Wilke nnalifipH in thp long jump. At ETSU, no USC athletes set NCAA marks, but they still put forth a good effort. The women’s 4X400 meter relay team at ETSU finished second with a time of 4:43.82. Kristina Brown (800-meters) and Kanisa Williams (60-meters) finished fourth and fifth respectively in their events. Deandre’ Eiland’s time of 8.07 in the 60-meter hurdles was enough to earn him sixth place. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmafl.com USC swimming and diving team tails short at home Travis Lynn/The Gamecock » i l <■ USC freshman swimmer Chris McCrary finished third in the 200-yard butterfly in Saturday's meet versus Auburn. ■ Gamecocks come close, but succumb to national powerhouse Auburn by Maneshka Eliatamby The Gamecock USC’s swimming and diving teams looked as though they were about to pull off a huge upset Saturday against defending SEC champion Auburn, but it was not to be. The Gamecock men fell 172-123 to the Tigers, and the women lost 170-119. The Tigers were able to win in part because of their domination of all the relays, winning both the men’s and women’s 400-yard individual medley as well as the 400-yard freestyle relays. Despite the loss, USC swimming head coach Don Gibb was able to find positive things about his team’s j_ “I am really encouraged by our performances today,” Gibb said. “A lot of these guys swam their lifetime bests in a dual meet, which traditionally does not happen. This was a great confidence-builder for us, and the difference between this year and last year is night and day. I am glad that we got to send the seniors out on a positive note.” The first Gamecock to win an event Saturday was Anna Nyiri, one of the team’s latest additions. Nyiri, who joined the team less than a month ago, won the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 27.17 seconds, f' She was followed in a close second by sopho 172 123 170 _1 119 * more Kristen Butler. Nyiri went on to win the 50 yard butterfly event with a time of 26.09 seconds. Senior Gamecock.Micah Sillik, participating in the last home meet of his career, won the men’s 50-yard breaststroke. Olympian Zsolt Gaspar, who started the day off with a win in the 50-yard freestyle event, followed it up with wins in the 100-yard freestyle and the 50-yard butterfly. Fellow USC Olympian Istvan Bathazi won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:50.88 and finished second in the 200-yard freestyle. On the women’s side. Gamecock All-American Sarah Doyle finished second in both the 500- and 1 fWl-varH frppctvlp ovontc Frenchman Triria Pvp u/rvn the 200-yard breaststroke. Diver Brandon Hulko won the one-meter springboard event, edging out Auburn’s Ceasar Garcia. Carolina’s Brad Brown came in third. Hulko went on to win the three-meter event with Brown again coming in third. Holly Hodges won the three-meter springboard event for USC. Like Gibb, USC diving head coach Todd Sherritt was pleased with his team’s performance. “I thought Brandon Hulko did a nice job today,” Swim see page m