SAVANNAH, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost an 82-57 decision at Armstrong State Wednesday evening in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers are now 10-10 overall and fall to 5-6 against conference competition.

Dominic Early led head coach Vince Alexander's team with 13 points to go along with a squad-high nine rebounds. André Anthony and Hendrix Emu each chipped in 12 points in the loss.

Arbry Butler hit his lone field goal of the game, but was a force with a game-high seven blocks to go along with five rebounds.  

Tyreece Brice drilled a pair of three-pointers for six points while Albert Miller III chipped in five.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 20-of-52 shots from the floor (38.5 percent), but connected on just six-of-22 shots from behind the thee-point line (27.3 percent). The Pacers were out-rebounded 45-28 and committed 19 turnovers. However, in the lane the team managed to block eight shots compared to just four by the Pirates.

Alexander's squad started off the game on an impressive run. Butler got things going with a jumper. After a basket by Armstrong State, Emu buried back-to-back jumpers. Early slipped past the defense for a lay-up prior to Grant Harris connecting on a pair of charity tosses for a 10-2 lead.

Leading 17-14 at the 12:14 mark, USC Aiken went cold from the floor while the Pirates embarked on a 9-0 spurt. The Pacers were unable to hit a field goal for nearly eight minutes in the opening period, allowing the home team to take the lead.

Trailing 29-19, Emu tipped in a shot, making it a 29-21 game at the 6:47 mark. After a free throw by the Pirates, Anthony took a pass from Emu and drilled a deep three-pointer. On the very next possession, Harris found him for another three-pointer, making it 30-27. The teams traded the next four points, but the Pirates were able to take a six-point edge into the break.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Emu pulled the team within four early in the second half, but it was as close as the team would get the rest of the way.  

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they travel to Young Harris for a 3:30 p.m., contest.