AUGUSTA, Ga. - Seventh-seeded Montevallo advanced to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship Game with an 88-71 victory over sixth-seeded USC Aiken in the semifinals of the 2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Montevallo will face off against the winner of the #5 Anderson-#1 Augusta State contest at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16.

Montevallo is now 25-7 on the year, while USC Aiken finishes its season with a mark of 20-11.

Montevallo commenced the contest on a 4-0 run over the first two minutes, but buoyed by a three-pointer by Re’mon Nelson from the left corner the Pacers went on an 8-0 run to hold an 8-4 advantage with 15:41 remaining in the first half of play.

USC Aiken would pull ahead by five a few minutes later at 20-15 after a trey by Brandon Shephard, but Montevallo would go a 8-0 spurt to own a three-point 23-20 lead with 9:49 left until intermission. The Falcons acquired six of the eight points in a matter of seconds as Jonas Brown knocked down a three-pointer and then Mark Plaza stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and was fouled in the act of making a lay-up that tied the game. Plaza connected on his free throw attempt to acquire a then one-point lead for Montevallo at 21-20.

A little while later the Pacers had gone down by four once again at 29-25, but Byron Faison knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to garner the lead back for the Pacers at 31-29 with just under five minutes left until the halftime break.

The Falcons closed out the half on a 10-4 run to own a 39-35 lead at halftime.

Montevallo behind 11 points from Plaza concluded the first half shooting 50 percent (12-for-24) as a team. USC Aiken behind 10 from Faison ended the first stanza hitting upon 42.3 percent (11-of-26) of their shots as a team.

The two teams combined for 21 turnovers in the first half with the Pacers turning over the basketball 11 times and the Falcons giving the basketball back to USC Aiken 10 times. Montevallo scored 12 of their 39 points of the turnovers, while USC Aiken posted 11 points of Montevallo’s 10 turnovers in the first frame.

Montevallo continued their surge in the opening three minutes of the second half by going on a 7-2 run to kick things off in the frame. The run helped the Falcons own their largest lead of the game at the time at 46-37 with 17:21 left on the game clock.

USC Aiken would cut the deficit to four at 58-54 with 10:57 left in the contest behind 10 straight points from Nelson and then two free throws from Casey McMasters. A minute later, Nelson’s 13th point in the almost eight-minute span had pulled the Pacers to within three at 60-57. After a jumper by Montevallo’s Cecil Coleman and a three-pointer by McMasters on USC Aiken’s next offensive possession the Pacers had moved themselves to within two at 62-60 with 9:19 left in regulation.

Nelson kept surging hitting another three-pointer from the top of the key. The three-pointer left the Falcons with a slight 64-63 one-point advantage.

The Pacers would not be able to get any closer as Montevallo would erase USC Aiken’s advances by going on a 15-1 run to hold a 79-64 advantage at the 1:49 mark of the second half.

Montevallo, who ended the game on a 24-8 run, would hold on from there for the 17-point victory over the Pacers.

Nelson was 8-for-17 from the field en route to the 22 points. He was 5-for-12 from beyond the arc. The freshman point guard also had five rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Four Pacers finished in double figures in the contest with Mark Brown (13), McMasters (11) and Faison (10) all netting double figures.

Plaza was the top scorer for the victorious Falcons with 23 points. He was a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe.

Montevallo as a team connected on 28 of their 51 attempts (54.9 percent) from the field in its semifinal victory. USC Aiken concluded the contest hitting 39.3 percent (22-of-56) of its shots from the floor.

The Falcons were lethal from the charity stripe in the contest as they only missed two of 31 attempts (93.5 percent) in the contest. (Box Score)

QUOTES

Montevallo Head Coach Danny Young
“We knew that it was going to be a really tough game from the start of it, very physical and tough. USC Aiken not having Kevin Woods really gave us an advantage.”

(On the team tonight vs. past games) “It was pretty close to on of the best games of season. We were very patience tonight and executed what we wanted to do and got some good shots.”

(On revenge against USC Aiken) “Yes, we talked about how they beat us up there and how they took our championship away from us. We wanted to get a chance to get one step closer to playing them again.”

Montevallo’s Cecil Coleman
(On how it was in the paint) “It was like the same they kept doubling. It was not easy they played hard and we just had to get it done.”

USC Aiken Head Coach Vince Alexander
“I just want to thank God for such a wonderful group of men, and an awesome season. I am so blessed to have a wonderful group of men; we have had the opportunity to impact their lives.”

(On expectations and great season) “I think that it is awesome. We came out the underdog and no one expected us to do anything. God blessed us to win the Peach Belt Conference Tournament and allowed us to advance here at a field of 32. I think we could have gone a little further, but I think we ran out of gas, we did not have the depth that we had just a week ago. I am proud of what we have accomplished.”

USC Aiken Re’mon Nelson
(On his second half run) “The coach drew up some plays for the team so we could get some open shots.”

(On starting out on the bench and review of year) “Coach recruited me because he thought I could play. Mostly the seniors led us through the year and they have taught me a lot and that is how we got where we are. I have matured a lot this year.”

USC Aiken Rashad Flowers
(On post season run) “Everyone has there own opinion but we knew from the get go what kind of team we had and we knew we had the potential.”