Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Softball vs. Virginia Tech, 3 p.m. Wednesday ■ Women’s basketball vs. Ole Miss at SEC Tournament, 9:30 p.m. Thursday ■ Baseball at Clemson, Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday ■ Men’s basketball at Mississippi State, 3 p.m. Saturday . ' ' ■ USC drops last game at home in overtime I by Preston Baines The Gamecock Vincent Yarbrough put home a follow up dunk off a missed shot with 1:52 remaining in overtime to send the Gamecocks to yet another heartbreaking defeat at home, this time at the hands of the Tennessee \blunteers, 68-67, Tuesday night at Frank McGuire Arena. Down by a single point with 6.2 seconds left, the Gamecocks (14-12,6 9 SEC) still had a final chance to win. Michael Boynton lobbed an inbound pass toward the basket to Tony Kitchings only to see the ball glance off Kitchings’ hands and into the hands of Rolando Howell, whose fall-away 18-foot baseline jumper bounced off the rim as time expired. The two teams entered the overtime after Tennessee’s Terrance Woods hit an off-balanced three pointer from the left wing at the buzzer to tie the game at 63. The basket by Woods capped off a 9-2 run by the \bls (20-9,7-8) in the final minute of regulation. „ The Tennessee run followed a 17-0 run by Carolina fueled by Jamel Bradley’s 10 points. Bradley finished with 23 on the night to lead Carolina in scoring. “Tennessee is the most athletic, talented team in the SEC,” said Bradley, commenting on the physicality of the game. “The refs were really letting us play tonight.” Carolina’s Aaron Lucas missed the entire second half and most of the game due to a turf toe injury suffered late in the Georgia game. “[Lucas] will be ready for Saturday,” USC head coach Eddie Fogler remarked. “He has lived with (trainer) Jeff Parsons the last couple of days.” Because of the injury, freshman Boynton received a majority of the minutes at point guard. Boynton finished with four points and seven assists. Tennessee was led by Yaibrough’s 13 points, 11 of which came in the first 13 minutes of the game, before getting the game-winning dunk. For the second straight week on ESPN, Howell put together a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Tennessee’s top four scorers on the season, Tony Hanis, Ron Slay, Isiah Victor and Vincent Yarbrough, were contained the entire second half by the Gamecocks’ stifling defense. The four players scored only 10 points combined and 28 for the game, 25 below their average scoring output for the season. USC forced 20 turnovers while only committing 12. The loss most likely damaged any hopes the Gamecocks had of making the NCAA tournament. The Vols, however, increased the chances of making the tournament after only winning three of the previous 11 games since the first meeting between the two schools this season, a 79-71 Tennessee win Jan. 13. This week also marked the first time this season the Vols haven’t been ranked by The Associated Press. Seniors Antonio Grant and David Ross, playing their final regular season home game, scored nine and three points, respectively. It was Grant’s 3-pointer, followed by a Bradley layup, which sparked the 17-0 Gamecock scoring run. “Wfe’ve been doing it (coming back from tough losses) all year; all you can do is pick up the pieces and go at it again,” Ross said. “You can bet we are going to do the same thing down in Starkville.” One of the main reasons for the Gamecocks’ demise was the inability to shoot free throws. USC shot 18-34 from the line and missed some key free throws in the final minutes, fueling the Tennessee comeback. “We lose the game at the free 68 67 throw line quite honestly, and that makes it tough,” Fogler said. “That (free throw shooting) is a part of the game.” Carolina’s next and final game of the regular season is Saturday in Starkville, Miss., against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (15-10,6-8). The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Tennessee 68 (20-9, 7-8 SEC) FG FT R A TO PF TP Yarbrough 6-131-1 7 2 3 3 13 Slay 1-7 1-1 2 0 3 4 3 Victor 4-10 0-4 10 1 1 5 8 Hams 1-6 1-2 2 4 4 2 4 Higgins 4-4 04) 10 2 3 2 12 Grindstaff 2-3 04) 1 1 0 1 6 Walker 34 04) 1 1 4 1 7 Haislip 3-6 2-2 2 1 0 3 10 Woods 2-3 04) 0 0 1 1 5 Hathaway 0-0 04) 3 0 1 4 0 TOTAL 26-56 5-10 38 12 20 26 68 South Carouna 67 (14-12, 6-9) FG FT R A TO PF TP Ross 14 04) 1 0 0 0 3 Grant 4-8 0-3 3 1 1 3 9 Kitchings 3-113-6 8 1 6 2 9 Lucas 0-2 04) 0 0 0 0 0 Bradley 7-165-6 4 4 2 2 23 Petravidus2-7 3-5 9 1 0 1 7 Boynton 1-2 14 0 7 2 1 4 Howell 36 6-1012 1 0 4 12 TOTAL 21-5818-3441 15 12 13 67 Halftime score: Tennessee 28-27 3-point shooting: Tennessee 11-20 (Yaitrough 0-2, Slay 0-2, Hairis 14, Higgins 44. Grindstaff 2-2, Walker 1-2, Haislip 2-3, Woods 1-1), South Carolina 7-17 (Ross 14. Grant 14, Lucas 0-1, Bradley 4-6. Boynton 1-2) Steals: South Carolina 98 Blocks: Tennessee 7-2 Attendance: 8,579 Sean Rayford/The Gamecock Senior David Ross played his final game at the Frank McGuire Arena Tuesday night The Fort Lauderdale native had three points in 15 minutes of action. For the Lady Gamecocks, it s do or die in the SEC tourney SEC Women’s Tournament Bracket n Tennessee _ GAME FIVE Alabama i p ">- Fri