WILSON, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team dropped an 81-64 decision to No. 6 Mount Olive Friday evening in the team's season-opening game, which was played at Barton.

In head coach Mark Vanderslice's first game at the helm, Jevon Patton led the way with a game-high 18 points. He also registered a game-best six steals and a squad-high five assists.

Keith Belfield and Arbry Butler each chipped in double-doubles. Belfield accounted for 13 points and 11 rebounds while Butler tallied 10 points and 12 boards in the loss.

Off the bench, Gavin Stephenson tallied eight points, four rebounds, a pair of steals and an assist.

Vanderslice's team fell behind 54-25 with 2:05 to play in the first half. However, Belfield nailed a three-point shot off a pass from Stephenson, making it 54-28. USC Aiken scored five of the last seven points of the half, including a three-point bucket from Andrew Glover for a 57-33 score at the break.

Trailing 65-44 with 8:38 to go, Patton and Butler nailed four straight free throws. Patton took a pass from Jordan Foster and sneaked past the defense for a basket in the paint.

With 2:45 to go, Belfield made a free throw, cutting the deficit to 72-59. Sixty-five seconds later, Belfield made it a 12-point contest, but that was as close as the Pacers would get the rest of the way.

USC Aiken held a 46-39 advantage on the glass, including a 19-9 margin on the offensive end of the court.

For the game, USC Aiken canned 19-of-63 shots from the floor (30.2 percent) and made six-of-19 from behind the three-point stripe (31.6 percent). The team got to the line 29 times, connecting on 20 attempts (69 percent).

The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they play Barton at 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.