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Soccer CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 “I thought our guys in the sec ond half clearly had a lot of chances,” Berson said. “It was like two different games — the first half and the second half today. I thought that Furman was very sharp and has us back on our heels in the first half, but I thought that we clearly had them back on their heels in the second half.” But despite outshooting the Paladins 9-2 in the second half and controlling the majority of possession, USC came up empty. “It’s been the story for us in the last two games that we haven’t been able to get the goal,” Berson said. “We’re playing a lot of good teams, and this group is a young team, and they’re learning ev ery time they go out,” he added. “And one of the things they learned in this game, as well as in the Charleston game, is that you have to play two good halves. You can’t play one good half and expect to win.” The Gamecocks are tied for 10th in the latest NSCAA poll, but they can expect a huge drop with their two losses this week. And if the team continues to slip in its final four games of the regular season, its NCAA Tournament chances might be in doubt. Next weekend, USC will play Coastal Carolina and Winthrop in a tournament in Charleston. In the next two weeks, the Gamecocks will play Florida International and defending champion North Carolina. “Every game from here on out is vital,” Berson said. “We cer tainly know that we have our work cut out for us.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotma il. com Point CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 There is also a chance that Gerald could receive an oppor tunity to become a starter. Gerald will likely play a larger role at the point in his final years at USC. But for now, he could find himself playing minutes mostly as a reserve. Odom left open the possibili ty of freshman Marcus Morrison getting some playing time at point guard, though it’s more likely he will find time at a for ward position. “I think that when it’s all said and done, before he leaves here, Marcus Morrison will see some time back there,” Odom said. “He’s got the size I like, he plays with enough flair back there.... I really like what he’s done as a playmaker so far, but he cer tainly doesn’t think like a point guard.” Nevertheless, Eidson is the prime candidate right now, and Odom insists that one of the few ways Boynton or Gerald could secure the point guard spot is if they can outperform those at the wing position. “I didn’t want to start the year with Chuck there, because I think he’d close out Michael and Jarod, and you’d never really get a good look at them,” he said. “He’s clearly the best out there. ... The thing we want to do is go ahead and acknowledge he is the best we have at that spot and not try to retard his progress or the team’s progress by trying to force the issue somewhere else.” Boynton and Gerald “have to be so good so we can push Chuck to the wing,” Odom said. “Their competition is not Chuck Eidson. They have to better than the wings.” Time will tell, though, to see how the Gamecock starting line up forms and who will be play ing point guard. No matter which route Odom takes, it will have a big impact on the USC men’s basketball team. But he still ponders the pecu liarity of the situation on his squad, where all three major candidates are similar in one re gard. “What a crazy team this is,” Odom said. “We’ve got three point guards and they’re all left handed. Is that unbelievable or what?” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Odom CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 to the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament. Odom said he thinks the team is ready to take the next step. “I feel it learned a great lesson last year, and I feel it has taken that lesson into the offseason and tried to build on it the right way,” he said. “We have a team, at this point, of no egos — a team that thinks about we and not me. And that’s something I want us to build on.” Carolina lost its starting back court — point guard Aaron Lucas and shooting guard Jamel Bradley — but Odom likes what he still has on the roster. “We have great upper-level leadership right now,” he said. “Chuck Eidson has taken the reins of this team, not only from a basketball standpoint, but I think a leadership standpoint; I could not be more pleased with him. Marius Petravicius had a double knee-ankle operation a month ago, and he’s come back strong.... And Chris Warren — no player on our team worked harder than Chris Warren in the offseason. He definitely has im proved.” Odom said the player he sees the biggest difference in, howev er, is junior forward Rolando Howell. “Rolando Howell has the bit in his mouth right now, obviously meaning that he wants to be good for the right reasons,” Odom said. “He is pushing hard — he cer tainly is not on cruise control — and he is doing very, very well.” Howell, a Columbia native, is the team’s leading returning scor er. With 9.9 points a game, he was third in scoring last season be hind Lucas and Bradley. Odom is looking for even more production out of him this season. “We want him to think more about his offense,” he said. “Since (the Auburn game last year), I’ve noticed a remarkable change in the way he’s ap proached not only the game of basketball, but the way he’s tak en control of his life. He has a sense of purpose he didn’t have before that. I’m very, very proud of what he’s doing.” Questions still remain about Carolina’s NCAA Tournament as pirations, especially with the void left by the team’s two graduating seniors. But Odom is confident he has the raw materials to con struct a winner. “I think, by in large, right now, we have a pretty good feel of what --... -- we have to work with,” he said. “For the most part, I’m very pleased. I’ve seen enough to know that we have the ability to be a pretty good basketball team, but I’ve also seen enough to know that we have a long way to go be fore we get to that point.” USC will play two exhibition games before starting the regular season Nov. 24 against East Tennessee State in the new Carolina Center. Carolina is scheduled to play Team Nike on Nov. 7 and a foreign team Nov. 13. Both exhibitions will take place in the Carolina Coliseum. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com “I’ve seen enough to know that we have the ability to be a pretty good basketball team, but I’ve also seen enough to know that we have a long way to go before we get to that point.” DAVE ODOM use MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH BRIEFLY • women s soccer clinches SEC berth Freshman Amanda Thurber scored her first collegiate goal, and Jessica Julin added her fifth goal of the season Sunday as the USC women’s soccer team (11-5-2, 4-3-2 SEC) clinched a berth to the SEC Tournament with a 2-1 win at Alabama. “This is a huge win for us,” USC head coach Shelley Smith said. “We knew we had to win this game and we stepped up and played very well. I’m very hap py for our team.” Junior Elise Matthews earned the win for USC with five saves. Women’s golf team finishes in second The USC women’s golf team fired a team score of 291 on Sunday to finish hi second place at the Lady Paladin Invitational in Greenville. The Gamecocks finished with a team score of 884 for the week end, four strokes back of Furman, the tournament win ner. This is the Gamecocks’ best finish of the year, and they’ll look to continue their good play into this fall’s final tournament next week in Auburn, Ala. Defending SEC champion Kristy McPherson fired a two over par 74 on Sunday and fin ished in a tie for fifth place, her second Top 5 and third Top 10 on the year. Junior Kory Thompson and freshman Erica Battle finished in a tie for eighth place, the high est finish for both in their colle giate careers. Swimming teams fall at Virginia meet USC’s swimming and diving teams suffered their first losses of the season Saturday at Virginia. The men’s squad was defeated 129-109, and the wom en’s team lost 131-107. The meet for Carolina was highlighted, however, by sopho more diver Andy Bradley, who won both the 1-meter and 3-me ter springboards. The USC women also found success on the diving side, with sophomores Lauren King and Tracey Richardson each earning a first-place finish* King took first place on the 1-meter spring board, while Richardson took first on the 3-meter. Junior Chris McCrary con tinued his success in the sprint events for USC with a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and second-place finish in the 100 freestyle. USC’s Tamas Szucs also finished first in the 200 freestyle. hail season over Tor men’s tennis team Gamecock Angelo Niculescu lost in the Round of 16 this weekend at the ITA Regional Indoor Championships — the last tournament on USC’s fall schedule. After starting the tournament 2-0, Niculescu dropped a three set match to Wake Forest’s Mike Murray 4-6,7-6(7), 6-4. USC’s Ben Atkinson, Marcus Westman and Seth Rose also claimed opening round victories in the tournament, held in Chapel Hill, N.C. But the trio lost in their respective second-round matches. In doubles play, Atkinson and Niculescu defeated Glauco Nascirento and Jose Carlos Pinto of Hampton 8-4. However, they fell in the second round to Nicholas Monroe and Daniel Pinchbeck of North Carolina. Wiggins, Suzuki lose first match Danielle Wiggins and Ayako Suzuki lost 8-3 on Saturday to Kentucky’s 22nd-ranked duo of Nathalie Roels and Sarah Witten in the Round of 16 of the ITA Southeast Regional in Winston Salem, N.C. The defeat was the first on the season for Wiggins and Suzuki, who dropped to 4-1 on the season. -1 As Senior VP of Financial Planning at a major movie studio you could: O.K. a S93 million budaet _ _ ^ Hire 7,500 extras Rent 273 palm trees (and 1 big fan to make them sway) o < 0 5 | How do you get a job like this? 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