A British researcher -- obviously unaware that schools and banks in America are closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- claims that the third Monday in January is the saddest day of the year.

Unpaid Christmas bills, failed New Year's resolutions and cold weather didn't seem to be bothering anyone in Christenberry Fieldhouse on this "Blue Monday." Competitive collegiate rivals combined to create the most exciting basketball atmosphere the area has seen in years.

"This was college basketball the way it's supposed to be," said USC Aiken athletics director Randy Warrick.

Amen. A standing-room-only crowd and a pair of nationally ranked rivals. The home fans offering derisive taunts of "over-rated" to its vanquished guests.

Forget the final score and the lopsided victory by Augusta State. That happens all the time in college basketball. What never happens around here is the anticipation that brought 3,023 together to celebrate a game on a national holiday.

"Nobody lost tonight," said Augusta State athletics director Clint Bryant. "This was the kind of atmosphere that college basketball is all about."

They're used to this kind of thing in places like Tobacco Road. Duke and North Carolina do this every year.

It would be a nice habit for Augusta State and USC Aiken to acquire. Meaningful basketball played by neighbors has a way of energizing a region.

Bryant understands that. Working the room filled to capacity wasn't the only thing making him happy Monday. The former coach appreciates the significance of the competition on the floor.

"We need Aiken to be good," Bryant said. "It's good for everybody."

For the first time in a rivalry that goes back 32 years, No. 7 USC Aiken and No. 18 Augusta State faced each other as top-20 teams. It has never stopped them from having spirited meetings, but there's something different about playing when conference titles and postseason berths might be at stake.

For too long the Pacers haven't measured up to their Peach Belt Conference neighbors. Six straight losing seasons dulls expectations and doesn't fill arenas.

But USC Aiken has been the most pleasant surprise of the year. Picked by reputation to finish a middlin' sixth in the conference, the Pacers came to Augusta as the team to beat. Vince Alexander's young and talented team built that level of respect largely on an early season victory over Augusta State that snapped a nine-game losing streak in the one-sided series.

"It's been a little bit one-sided in the past," Warrick said. "It helps when both sides get excited about the game tonight."

Augusta State coach Dip Metress agrees. After four seasons of trying everything from giving away cars, cash and a diamond pendant to try to fill the home bleachers, the only gimmick it took was two teams vying for a championship.

"Four years ago, I said I was going to sell the arena out and they looked at me like I was on some kind of hallucinogenic drug," Metress said.

Despite its lofty ranking, USC Aiken wasn't particularly good Monday night. The Pacers had not faced a halftime deficit all season until the Jaguars opened up a 17-point lead at intermission that increased to 19 in the opening minutes of the second half. Foul trouble robbed them of an opportunity to rally.

But most of the problem was a Jaguar team feeding off a crowd that filled every seat, circled the mezzanine and forced public safety officers to clear away the fans sitting in the aisles.

The Jaguars played like a team with something to prove.

Senior A.J. Bowman in particular wasn't going to end his career getting swept by Aiken. His emotions flashed when he emitted a primal scream after his 3-pointer opened the first double-digit lead of the night.

"I was ready to play," he said.

After that, the electrifying forward from Tignall, Ga., put on a show that lifted the home fans to their feet and eventually sent the Aiken faithful to the exits early to avoid the rarest thing in Augusta basketball -- a postgame traffic jam.

Bowman rejected one shot by Pacer guard Job Casimir with such force that the diminutive Pacer seemed to fall to the floor in fear.

In the second half, Bowman complimented teammate Garret Siler's power inside slams with a couple of breakaway dunks, including a tomahawk jam that punctuated the night.

It wasn't the perfect game, but it struck the perfect tenor nonetheless.

"When we moved into this building, we wanted to see this packed out," said Bryant, who coached the only other sellout in Christenberry when they opened the building Jan. 29, 1991, against South Carolina. "As intense as the game was, there was never one situation that was negative. You couldn't ask for nothing better on Martin Luther King's birthday."

Nothing sad about that at all. It would be a great way to celebrate so-called Blue Monday every year.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.