Pacer Gamers Lead Peach Belt

Aiken, SC (03/07/2019) — The University of South Carolina Aiken e-sports team is dominating the Peach Belt Conferences' League of Legends series.

The team is undefeated after five weeks of intense League of Legends battles against other conference teams.

"Our roster has a wide range of skill levels, but one of the team's key to successes is practice," said Brandon Nesbitt, one of the e-sports athletes on campus.

"The team has regular practice every Tuesday to Thursday. Additionally, we meet on other days to work on certain aspects of the sport, such as team coordination, preparing for our opponents by playing certain team compositions, and at the end of day just playing to have fun."

Coached by Dr. David Morris, the USC Aiken team includes:

Tyrus Carlton, team captain, whose role is support during actual matches
Cameron Payne, who serves as top lane during games
Mackenize Morris, who is the team's attack damage and carry player, the one in the bottom lane with the support position who focuses on getting kills for the team
Samuel Boyd, plays in the mid-lane position
Kyllian Martin, takes on the jungle role
Brandon Nesbitt, sub when necessary
Logan Driggers, sub when necessary

In an effort to build its fan base, the USC Aiken E-sports team hosted a game-viewing party during the recent Georgia College match for their fellow Pacers, which included free food and gaming opportunities. The next opportunity to see the gamers in action is March 7 at 10 p.m., when the Pacers go up against Augusta University.

The USC Aiken E-sports Club will host a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament in the gym in the Business and Education Building on March 23. For details, go to the team's Facebook page.

"Smash Bros Ultimate is a fighting game that takes some of Nintendo's most beloved characters such as Mario, Peach, Bowser and Link and puts them into a fighting game," said Nesbitt.

The Pacer-sponsored tournament is open to the public. Area players have an opportunity to compete and win a first-place award.

"[The tournament] will be a great way to pump up the team before they head to Lander for the play-offs," said one Pacer.