Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken fell to the University of North Florida, 83-82, on Wednesday night at "The Courthouse" in Aiken, S.C.  Mitch Lewis came off the bench and connected on all seven of his three-point attempts to finish with a game-high 21 points and set a school record for three-point percentage in a game.  The Pacers fall to 2-16 on the season and 1-9 in the Peach Belt Conference.  North Florida improved to 8-9 overall and 5-5 in the PBC.
The Ospreys built a four-point advantage with 15 seconds left in the game.  Bryant Latimer (Columbia, S.C.) hit a driving lay-up to get the Pacers within two, 81-79, with six seconds on the clock.  Tight defense by USC Aiken forced a North Florida turnover on the inbounds pass and USCA quickly called the team's last timeout to set up the final play.  Lewis(Newbourgh, Ind.) couldn't connect on a leaner just inside the three-point line that would have tied the game with three seconds remaining.
"I was going to pass it to the corner but he was covered, I leaned in and tried to draw the foul," Lewis said.
Lee Burton (Clearwater, Fla.) gave the Pacers life as he grabbed the offensive rebound while falling out of bounds.  The junior called timeout before hitting the floor, but with no timeouts remaining, the team was assessed a technical foul.
"I feel real bad for our players, they played their butts off tonight," said Pacer Head Coach Mike Roberts.  "Have you ever seen a team play so hard after losing nine straight games?"
North Florida's David Hartigan hit both free throws after the technical foul to give the Ospreys an 83-79 lead with one second remaining.  The Pacers were able to inbound the ball under their own basket and Latimer's three pointer at the buzzer set the final score, 83-82.
"They took it right to us, we were just fortunate to come away with the victory," added North Florida Head Coach Matt Kilcullen.  "It was just a question of who had the ball last." 
  
Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game and over 60 percent from three-point land.  The Pacers finished the night shooting 51.8 percent (29-for-56) from the field and 68.8 percent (11-for-16) from behind the arch.  The Ospreys shot 53.8 percent (28-for-52) from the floor and 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from deep. 
  
Todd Williams' (Hopkins, S.C.) two free throws gave USCA their first second half lead, 51-50, with 18:45 left in the game, and capped an 8-0 Pacer run that began in the first half.  The two teams alternated baskets for the next four minutes until two consecutive lay-ups by Minda Statkus (Mazeikai, Lithuania) gave USC Aiken a three-point lead, 57-54, with 14:33 to play. 
  
Donny Lotz put UNF back in front, 59-57, with a three-pointer at the 13:29 mark.  His free throw a minute later gave the Ospreys their largest second half lead, 62-57. 
  
Three-point baskets by Lewis and Burton, and two free-throws by Williams gave the Pacers a three-point advantage, 65-62, with 8:08 remaining.  Lewis finished the night with a career-high 21 points on seven-of-10 shooting, including seven-of-seven from three-point land.  His three-point percentage set a new USC Aiken record, beating Marc Hutcheson's six-for-six effort against Clayton State on January 28, 1998.  It also tied a Peach Belt Conference record set by Willie Murdaugh of USC Spartanburg against Georgia College on January 26, 1991.
A lay-up by Statkus with 6:20 remaining gave USC Aiken its largest second half lead, five points, 69-64.  USCA held onto the lead until a lay-up by Jeff Bridges put the Ospreys ahead by one, 76-75, with 1:25 on the clock.  After a bucket by Burton, Derrick Scott's jumper gave North Florida the lead for good with 44 seconds to play.  Burton finished with 19 points, one assists and a game-high eight rebounds. 
  
Statkus capped a 9-0 Pacer run on a lay-up with 15:18 left in the first half to give USCA an 11-6 lead.  The junior turned in his second straight double-digit scoring performance with 16 points to go along with six rebounds, an assist, one steal and two blocks.
Nine points, on three three-point baskets, in a two-minute span by UNF's Chris Ireland gave the Ospreys a 20-15 lead with 11:36 before intermission.
After a Lewis trey gave the Pacers a four-point lead, 31-27, with 6:36 left in the first half, North Florida went on a 15-5 run to build their largest lead of the game, seven points, 40-33.  Two free-throws by Gary Satterwhite finished off the run with 4:19 remaining.  The Ospreys would hold a seven-point advantage four more times before the break.  Satterwhite scored a team-high 18 points on the night on eight-of-12 shooting from the field.  His six rebounds tied for the team-high.
"Satterwhtie was too big of a load inside for us, we didn't have anyone to match up with him," Roberts said.
A basket by Statkus followed by two free-throws from Latimer, with 12 seconds left in the half, cut UNF's final seven-point lead to three and set the halftime score at 50-47.
USC Aiken out-rebounded the Ospreys, 33-31, and turned the ball over just 13 times, while UNF made 15 miscues.
The Pacers return to action on Saturday for game two of their two game home stand.  USC Aiken will battle Lander University at 7:30 p.m. at "The Courthouse" on the USCA campus.
SCORING: 
North Florida (83):  Gary Satterwhite 18, David Hartigan 7, Donny Lotz 9, Michael Drayton 8, Joe Gaetano 7, Justin Bridges 13, Darrick Scott 4, Mark Riley 6, Chris Ireland 11
USC Aiken (82):  Leroy Williams 2, Lee Burton 19, Minda Statkus 16, Bryant Latimer 10, Eric Dugans 5, Todd Williams 9, Mitch Lewis 21