AUGUSTA, Ga.--The Peach Belt Conference board of directors and commissioner Marvin Vanover have announced that South Carolina-Aiken will be the host school for the 2008 and 2009 men's and women's basketball tournaments. The tournaments will be played in the new Convocation Center on the campus of USCA, which is scheduled to be completed in April, 2007.

“USCA is delighted to have this opportunity to show off our facility to the Peach Belt Conference," said USC Aiken chancellor Dr. Thomas Hallman. "We have waited a long time to be able to host the tournament, and we are looking forward to having our conference colleagues here."

Currently, USCA is finishing its 30th and final season in the 2,500-seat Student Activities Center gymnasium known as 'The Courthouse'.

"It's going to be a tremendous event, both for our student-athletes, coaches and fans and for the city of Aiken," said commissioner Vanover. "USC Aiken has hosted many PBC championships, including the return of our baseball tournament last year, and done remarkably well with all of them and I am excited to be bringing our premier event to their campus."

USC Aiken has never hosted the PBC Tournament, although the event has been held in nearby Augusta, Ga., on six occasions. The Aiken/Augusta region is in the center of the Peach Belt Conference, which has schools in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

"We are thrilled and excited to be hosting the tournament," said USC Aiken Athletic Director Randy Warrick. "We think our new Convocation Center is going to be the perfect venue for putting on this tournament. The responsibility that we have will be to uphold the tradition of putting on a great, great tournament started by previous hosts going all the way back to 1990. Its a responsibility that we take seriously and will live up to."

When completed, the Convocation Center will hold approximately 3,600 for basketball. The multifunctional facility will have eight locker rooms, two practice courts, a center-hanging scoreboard, a multi-camera system for web broadcasts, and an LED message board. The facility's first official event is scheduled to be spring commencement in May, 2007.

The tournaments in Aiken will be held March 5-9, 2008, and March 4-8, 2009 and will be the 17th and 18th annual editions of the basketball championships. The first PBC basketball tournament was played in 1992 in Augusta. The 2007 PBC Championships will be hosted by Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., Feb. 28-March 4.

(Source Peach Belt Conference)