WILSON, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a 90-76 decision against Mount Olive in a neutral-site contest played at Barton College Friday evening.

The Pacers are now 0-1 on the season.

Dominic Early led head coach Vince Alexander's team with 20 points. He added a squad-high eight rebounds as well. Andre' Anthony posted 18 markers to go along with six boards and five assists. Keith Belfield accounted for 11 points before fouling out while Rashad Lewis netted 10 points and added a game-high five steals.

USC Aiken canned 21-of-63 shots from the floor for 33.3 percent, including an eight-of-25 effort from behind the three-point stripe (32 percent). The Trojans drained 51.6 percent of their attempts from the floor (33-of-64) and six-of-18 (33.3 percent) from downtown.

Alexander's squad buried 26-of-28 shots from the charity stripe for a sizzling 92.9 percent. Although the Pacers were out-rebounded 42-34, the squad grabbed 13 offensive boards compared to 12 by the designated visitors.

Anthony and Tyreece Brice drained back-to-back three-point shots to open the scoring for the designated home squad, giving the team an early 6-2 advantage. At the 17:40 mark, Anthony's tip-in pushed the score to 8-6.

Tied at 17 near the midway point of the first half, Rashad Lewis drilled a three-point shot off a pass from Jordan Foster for a 20-17 advantage. Lewis buried another shot from downtown with 4:46 to play in the opening stanza, giving the Pacers a 27-25 edge. However, it marked the last lead for USC Aiken in the contest.

An 8-0 spurt by the Trojans made it 33-27 with 1:40 to play in the half. However, Alexander's team sliced the deficit to one as Anthony netted five straight points. Including Anthony's five points, USC Aiken closed the half on a 7-3 run, making it a 36-34 score at intermission.

Mount Olive slowly stretched its lead in the second period, pushing it to an 11-point margin at the 14:37 mark. Alexander's team closed the gap to just six on Early's three-point basket on Foster's assist with 2:31 to play. However, the Trojans embarked on a 10-2 run to finish the game.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow at 4 p.m., when they square off against Barton.