AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost an 85-72 decision to visiting Columbus State Saturday evening.

The Pacers are now 5-6 overall, including an 0-2 mark against conference competition. The Cougars improve to 8-2 overall and are 2-1 against league foes.

USC Aiken was led by Caleb Stewart's game-high 21 points and seven rebounds. Stewart canned seven-of-12 shots from the floor, including a two-for-four effort from downtown. André Anthony and Dominic Early each netted 14 points. Tyreece Brice and Jordan Foster posted six and five, respectively. 

For the game, the Pacers hit 27-of-58 shots from the floor (46.6 percent), including 10-of-22 from behind the three-point stripe (45.5 percent). The squad also hit eight-of-11 foul shots (72.7 percent). 

The Pacers struggled from the floor in the early going, but managed to put things together near the midway point of the opening stanza. Trailing 10-6, Stewart buried a three-pointer off a pass from Tyreece Brice, slicing the deficit to just one with 11:46 to go. After a quick basket by the Cougars, Anthony answered after Hendrix Emu swung it to him for another three-pointer, knotting the score at 12 apiece.

USC Aiken forced a missed shot on the next possession and quickly took the lead when Jordan Foster nailed a deep shot for a 15-12 advantage. Head coach Vince Alexander's team pushed the margin to five at the 7:29 mark when Anthony hit another shot from downtown. However, the Cougars answered with an 11-0 run before Stewart's lay-up pulled the home squad within four at 32-28 with 3:35 to play.

The Pacers trailed 38-30 with just 50 seconds to go before intermission, but Stewart hit a pair of free throws and the defense forced a turnover. With just one second left on the clock, Anthony hit a 37-foot runner, making it a 38-35 score heading into the second half.

After battling back-and-forth the first few possessions of the second half, a jumper by Stewart and a lay-up by Butler made it a one-score game at 46-44 with 16:27 to go. However, it was as close as Alexander's team would get as the Cougars embarked on a 17-5 spurt before Brice drained a deep three-pointer off a pass from Stewart at the 9:50 mark.

Although the deficit grew to 15 points, USC Aiken was able to get it back to a 10-point game with 4:24 to play on Early's free throws. The team though, could get no closer over the final minutes of action.

The Pacers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, when they host Armstrong State at 7:30 p.m.