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Aiken Standard, S.C.
Gamecocks save their best for last in exhibition win over Campbell
- Story byAiken Standard, S.C.
- Gamecocks save their best for last in exhibition win over Campbell
Oct. 25—COLUMBIA — They won. Even in an exhibition where you mostly want to work on stuff you can't in intrasquad scrimmages or practices, you also want to win.
South Carolina did that on Sunday, 77-68 over Campbell in its final exhibition.
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That it took a comeback in the final three minutes to do so?
Hey, they won.
Kory Mincy found Juan Fernandez with a lob pass from halfcourt so the big man could simply turn and score with the foul, then Fernandez connected on a 3-pointer that hit the far rim, bounced straight up and fell through nylon as the Gamecocks survived a game where they were outshot, outrebounded until the final three minutes and outhustled for 37 of the game's 40 minutes.
"They played harder than us, especially early in the game. Wasn't like we were playing lazily, I wouldn't say that, but they came out of the gates like they wanted to hit a home run. We had a casualness to us," USC coach Lamont Paris said. "Probably a little bit of what they perceived Campbell to be, in their minds."
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A 10-0 run highlighted by Fernandez and Mincy's second dagger game-clincher in two attempts brought USC back from an upset that, while it wouldn't have counted, would have started the heavy sighs usually associated with USC men's basketball before the season every really began. The Fightin' Camels controlled the game until the late Gamecocks surge, led by Rashawn Inglemon, a transfer from Anderson University who cooked USC for 29 points.
But Fernandez scored 28 and snared nine rebounds, while Shane Blakeney connected on all four of his 3-point attempts. Camden Heide had nine boards, while Marcus Johnson and Jakub Necas scored nine each, and Mincy wound up with 11 despite not shooting that well to start.
"We had to play with more energy. They were playing harder than us," Fernandez said. "We have to learn from our mistakes and don't repeat it."
USC beat Wake and Campbell in its public exhibitions, and whipped Davidson in a closed scrimmage. No coach is ever satisfied, but Paris likes what he saw in those three games.
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"We play these games for a reason, these exhibition games. We've been tested in a lot of different ways," Paris said. "I thought we got out of sorts a little bit, a lot of guys trying to do a lot of things."
The Gamecocks start the season at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 by hosting Stetson.
Red crosses
Center Aleksas Bieliauskas sustained a lower leg strain and only played three minutes. Paris said the injury doesn't appear to be long-term.
The news wasn't as good for Grant Polk. He has a lower leg injury and will be out for six weeks.
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