RICHMOND, Va. - Presbyterian College's junior Sean Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) scored a team-high 20 points, including 18 in the second half to lead the No. 7 seeded Blue Hose to a 73-67 upset of No. 2 seed Armstrong Atlantic State University in the quarterfinals of the 2006 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional Tournament held at the Arthur Ashe Center.

The Blue Hose (25-9) advance to the regional semifinals tomorrow night at 5:00 pm where they will play the winner of the No. 3 Johnson City Smith University/No. 6 Georgia College & State University winner. Armstrong Atlantic State ends the season at 23-8. The victory gives the Blue Hose their second straight upset victory in the NCAA Tournament in their last two appearances. PC knocked off top seed Columbus State University 77-59 in the quarterfinals of the 2003 South Atlantic Regional en route to an appearance in the "Sweet 16" where they lost to Bowie State University 67-53.

In the first half, both teams were able to take leads of four points apiece, but neither was able to sustain any momentum. The game was tied six times before intermission, the last coming at 25-25 with 55 seconds remaining. PC's redshirt sophomore Martynas Versinskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) broke the tie with a free throw to go ahead 26-25 with 25 seconds remaining, but AASU's junior Darly Massamba (Marste, Sweden) gave the Pirates back the lead at 27-26 on a tip-in as time expired in the half.

The second half opened with the Blue Hose going on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 33-27 with 18:27 remaining on a pair of free throws by junior Grant Herren (Oviedo, FL). The Pirates responded by putting together an 11-6 run to retake the lead at 40-39 ath the 13:00 mark on a layup by junior Bryan Taylor (Timmonsville, S.C.).

The Pirates lead would be short lived as the Blue Hose went on a 10-2 run highlighted by three-pointers from sophomore Pat Kiscaden (Oviedo, FL) and Dixon to give PC a 49-41 lead with 9:50 remaining. AASU would trim the lead to two points at 52-50 on a free throw by sophomore Jamaal Galloway (Inverness, FL) with 6:00 left, but once again the Blue Hose responded with a pair of three-pointers by Dixon and one from senior Tray Ballenger (Wellford, S.C.) to push the lead to its largest margin at 63-52 with 3:55 remaining.

Presbyterian would ice the game on the line in the final two minutes by going 10-for-10 at the charity stripe en route to the 73-67 victory.
Dixon led the Blue Hose with 20 points on five-of-nine shooting from the field and six-of-six shooting from the charity stripe. Senior Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.) added a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Versinskas added 11 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the line.
Armstrong was led in scoring by Taylor's double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Tory Harris (Lakeland, FL) added 14 second half points.