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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Baseball vs. VCU at The Citadel, 10 a.m. Friday ■ Softball vs. Nebraska at the Fiesta Bowl Classic, 11 a.m. Friday ■ Men’s basketball at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m. Saturday ■ Women’s basketball vs. Kentucky, 2 p.m. Sunday "HuhC (Bamccock Friday, February 9, 2001 Lucas sinks Georgia USC men come from behind to knock off the Bulldogs by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Aaron Lucas’ five-foot shot with 2.6 seconds remaining lifted the South Carolina Gamecocks to a come-from behind 77-75 win against Georgia on Wfednesday night. USC (12-8,4-5 SEC) trailed by as many as 12 points late in the second half, but a late 10-1 rally in the final 1:31 sparked the Gamecocks to victory. “We stayed close enough to give ourselves a chance to win,” USC head coach Eddie Fogler said. With the loss, Georgia (13-10,6-4 SEC) has now dropped three straight games since jumping out to a 6-1 con ference record. It also hasn’t beat USC at Frank McGuire Arena since the 1993 94 season. Marius Petravicius scored a game-high 20 points for USC, and teammate Antonio Grant poured in. 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Thirteen of Grant’s points and all 10 of his rebounds came in the second half. “[Grant] is a player that plays with a lot of heart,” USC junior guard Jamel Bradley said. “He’s the heart and soul of this team. When a rebound is needed or a shot is needed, he comes through.” The player who came through at the end Wednesday night, however, was Lucas. The junior point guard from Columbia brought the ball up the court with 25 seconds left, waited for the clock to tick down, and then made his move. He drove left off a Petravicius screen and dribbled down the lane before pulling up and shooting a short jumper on Georgia’s Adrian Jones. The shot went in, a foul was called on Jones and the home crowd went wild. “I really didn’t see the shot,” Lucas said. “I heard the crowd. I was on the floor when it went in.” The Carolina comeback covered up a poor defensive display by USC, which allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 55.4 percent from the floor. Four Georgia players scored in double figures, and Fogler said he was unhappy with the Gamecocks’ lack of defensive intensity in the first half. “I was upset at halftime,” he said. “I didn’t think we played with enough emotion after our loss to Kentucky. [Georgia] got way too many easy baskets. They killed us inside.” Georgia forward Shon Coleman had a team-high 17 points for the Bull dogs, and fellow post player Anthony Evans scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. “Their big people, Coleman and Evans, are the best pair of big men in the conference at using their body, sealing and angling people out,” Fogler said. 77 75 “Udonis Haslem from Florida is the best but they are two and three and tough tc stop.” Grant agrees with his coach’s assessment. “Those are grown men out there,’ he said. “They’re really good down there.’ Despite being outscored in the paini and being outrebounded by Georgia 41-33, the Gamecocks were able to pull out a much-needed victoiy. With the win. South Carolina still has a chance at making a run for a postseason birth. “We’re back to where we want to be,” Bradley said. “We are moving up in the SEC chart, and we have a great look at the NCAA Tournament.” USC’s next game is at Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Gamecocks are 1-0 this season against the Commodores, beating them 57-49 Jan. 17 in Columbia. Fogler realizes there is still a long way to go. “It’s a good win (tonight),” he said. “Now we’re in the second half of the marathon.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com February 7,2001, Frank McGuire Arena, Columbia, S.C. SOUTH CAROLINA 77, GEORGIA 75 GEORGIA (13-10,6-4 SEC) Evans 5-14 4-614, Coleman 8-91-317, Wright 1-1 0-0 2, Williams 7-91-116, Layne 3-104-412, Jones 3-5 0-2 6, Dryden 2-3 0-0 4, Daniels 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 24 0-1 4. Totals 31-56 10-17 75. SOUTH CAROLINA (12-9,4-5) Petravicius 8-12 4-8 20, Grant 7-14 1-1 18, Kitchings 4-12 1-1 9. Lucas 2-5 3-5 7, Bradley 4-11 0-0 12, Ross 3-6 0-0 8, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Boynton 0-2 0-0 0, Clemmons 1-71-2 3. Totals 29-69 10-17 75. Halftime—Georgia 41, S.C. 33. 3-Point goals—Georgia 3-11 (Williams 1-2, Layne 2-8, Jones 0-1), S.C. 9-24 (Grant 3-7, Lucas 0-1, Bradley 4-10, Ross 24, Boynton 0-2). Fouled out—Kitchings. Rebounds— Georgia 41. (Evans 13), S.C. 33 (Grant 10). Assists—Georgia 20 (Layne 6), S.C. 14 (Lucas 8). Total fouls— Georgia 18, S.C. 17. A-7,478. I! USC’s Jamel Bradley scrambles with two Georgia players for a loose ball. Travis Lynn/The Gamecock Plenty of fight still left in these Gamecocks by Steven Drummond The Gamecock After this past Saturday’s embarrassing loss at home to Kentucky, most people had given the USC men’s basketball team up for dead. The problem was, somebody forgot to tell the team. Led by senior captains Antonio Grant and David Ross, USC kept their postseason hopes alive by beating the Georgia Bulldogs 77-75 on Wednesday. Georgia (13-10,6-4 SEC) came into the game as the surprise team in the conference this year, and they have been having the season most people thought USC would have. But USC didn’t back down from the ‘Dawgs. For every punch Georgia threw, the Gamecocks countered, and it paid off in the end. Aaron Lucas’ runner in the lane with 2.6 seconds left on the clock gives the Gamecocks the confidence they need to continue fighting. “This game is a stepping stone,” Lucas said. “That’s the way we’re taking this season — one step at a time. We didn’t want to disappoint ourselves or our fans.” The Gamecocks have been up and down all season. Injuries and missed opportunities have been the story. But just when you think the players have quit and are ready to be buried, they come up with a big win. Grant said the Gamecocks had something to prove against UGA. “We wanted to show ourselves, our fans and the country that we are a good basketball team,” the senior co-captain said. “I think we proved that tonight.” Grant and Ross met with head coach Eddie Fogler this week and told him the team was ready to focus and make a run at the postseason. “We sat down and talked with Coach Fogler and told him we’re putting the Kentucky game behind us,” Grant said. “We’re ready to come out on Wednesday, work'hard and get a win.” USC was dominated early in the game and trailed most of the second half until Jamel Bradley’s 3-pointer with 51.6 seconds left gave South Carolina the lead for good at 75-74. The Gamecocks, who came into the game averaging an SEC-worst 39.5 percent shooting, shot 42 percent (29-of-69) from the field. “I caught my man turning his head and Marius (Petravicius) set a great down-screen,” Lucas said of the game’s final basket. “My feet really weren’t set, but it went in.” The Gamecocks are going to need a few more gutsy wins like Wednesday night’s to pull out a berth in the NCAA Tournament. They ’ve got seven more conference games and the SEC Tournament left'to make a lasting impression on the tournament selection committee. Right now, after all the obstacles this team has faced to get to where they are today, they believe they can do anything. Chuck Eidson and Travis Kraft were both lost for the season, and with forward Rolando Howell go ing down with an ankle sprain against Kentucky, a lot of teams might have thrown in the towel. But this team hasn’t, and they don’t plan on Alive see page 9 Sean Rayford/The Gamecock Tony Kitchings got in early foul trouble against Georgia, but it didn’t matter in the end, as USC tri umphed 77-75. Kitchings had nine points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of play. USC football team reloads for next season, signs 22 ■ Lineman Gause headlines new class by Shawn Skillman The Gamecock After losing 17 seniors, a preseason Top 25 team has no time to rebuild in the SEC. So USC head coach Lou Holtz has reloaded for the 2001 campaign, and on Wednesday, National Signing Day, he was glowing like a proud new papa. “It’s like giving birth to a baby,” Holtz said “Is it a lawyer, a doctor, or is it gonna end up in prison? It’s there, and you have to grow and develop it. You win and lose because of the athletes you sign.” A needed position for the Gamecocks next season was on the defensive line, so seven of the 22 signatures USC received Wednesday were from up front. “Our focus was on defensive end because we would like to run a four-man line so we can get some more speed on the outside and rush the quarterback,” Holtz said. “But overall, this is proba bly the best defensive recruiting we’ve ever done.” A premier jewel of the defensive class was 6-foot-5-inch, 235-pound defensive end Geoige Gause from Conway, S.C. Gause, who mns a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, made three All-American lists and was widely regarded as the best prospect in the state. Bennett Swygert from Summerville, S.C., was considered to be the top quarterback in the state, throwing 28 touchdowns last year before tearing ligaments in his knee. But the option-style quarterback won’t enroll until 2002, though Holtz said the rehab is ahead of schedule. USC also signed another quarterback in two-time junior college All-American Corey Jenkins. “I feel good about our quarterbacks,” said Holtz. “Swygert might be the best \ '* 2001 football signees OL Josh Malloy (Shelby, N.C.) PK Josh Brown (Clarksburg, Md.) LB Xavier Byrd (Union) LB DeAdrian Coiey (Georgetown) DB Terrell Davis (Rock Hill) OL Fran Person (Havertown, Pa.) WR Mathew Thomas (Pearson, Ga.) RB Thez Robinson (Lyons, Ga.) LB Orus Lambert (Jacksonville, Fla.) DE Chris Tucker (Decatur, Ga.) DE George Gause (Conway) DE Charles Silas (Swainsboro, Ga.) DL Shaun Smith (Wichita, Kan.)* DL Eric Stroman (Aiken) RB Daccus Turman (Washington, Ga.) S Jermaine Lemon (Milledgeville, Ga.)* WR Ricky Ricks (Perkinston, Miss.)* QB Corey Jenkins (Garden City, Kan.)* QB Bennett Swygert (Summerville) CB Isaac Stackhouse (Ellisville, Miss.)* LB Travis Weston (Columbia) DE James Scott (Marion) * - junior college transfer quarterback in the South, and Jenkins is a winner. [Jenkins] went 11-0 in junior college.” Terrell Davis, Isaac Stackhouse and Matthew Thomas, three more USC signees are capable of filling any skill position. Davis played four different positions in Rock Hill, S.C., and Stackhouse runs a 4.4 in the 40. Thomas was a wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner in Pearson, Ga., and compiled 21 touchdowns in two years. “Our belief is, ‘who do we have to get on the field?’” Holtz said. “You don’t inherit a position here. We need to get the people that can win in the SEC and put them in a position where they can be successful.” ( Signature seepages