ASU; USCA Ranked in Men's Basketball Top 25

USC Aiken earned their first-ever top 25 ranking while Augusta State is 14th in the latest NABC men’s basketball poll which was released on Tuesday.

With five-straight victories to start the 2007-08 season, including one against the fifth-ranked team in the nation, the USC Aiken men’s basketball program cracked the top-25 for the first time in the program’s NCAA history.

“Although it is exciting to see that our program has made huge steps, I still feel our team has a lot of work to do to continue this success and be the best that we can be,” head coach Vince Alexander said. “I am very excited for my team, our coaching staff, the athletic department, and the university.”

Starting the season 5-0 for the first time since 1999-2000, USC Aiken has shown they are a much-improved team from the 2006-07 version that finished the season 9-22. The Pacers began the season with two non-conference victories, at Mars Hill and then against visiting Chowan on November 20. The 76-65 win over Chowan was the first-ever game in the brand-new 3,468-seat USCA Convocation Center.

However, it has been the last three contests that have really drawn the attention from those not only around the PBC, but also the nation. On November 24, USCA won at Clayton State 70-60 to open up league play. Returning home for a pair of conference games, the Pacers posted back-to-back wins over Augusta State 70-67 and Armstrong Atlantic State 87-82.

ASU (4-2) fell out of the top 10 one week after earning the highest national ranking in school history. The Jags moved up to No. 5 in last week’s poll following three straight wins to open the season, including a 93-70 victory over Johnson C. Smith in their home opener on Nov. 24.

The ranking marked the first-ever appearance in the top five for the Jaguars. ASU has nine days off before resuming its non-conference schedule with Paine on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Augusta State extends their streak of top-25 appearances to seven straight polls dating back to Jan. 30 of last season.

NABC Top 25 Poll