AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost an 87-79 contest to Carson-Newman Saturday in a non-conference contest.

The Pacers are now 1-3 on the season.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice was led by Keith Belfield's 28 game-high points and team-best 10 rebounds. Jevon Patton rattled of 24 points to go along with a game-high five assists and a pair of steals.

Kyle Buffkin, who played in foul trouble for much of the game, accounted for nine points and five rebounds off the bench. Gavin Stephenson accounted for six points.

It was a back-and-forth affair for much of the opening few minutes with neither squad getting a large lead. Trailing 16-15, Belfield buried back-to-back three-point shots for a five-point margin.

Vanderslice's team fought off the Eagles for a large portion of the opening half as Belfield was nearly unstoppable. He canned a long jumper with 4:59 to play, pushing the Pacers' lead back to five at 30-25.

However, C-N slowly crept back into the game as USC Aiken was saddled with 12 fouls in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Arbry Butler kick-started the Pacers' offense in the second half, throwing down a lob from Patton as the home team sliced the deficit to three at 40-37. The dunk was the start of a 9-0 spurt by Vanderslice's team. During the run, Patton nailed a three-point shot prior to Jordan Foster converting the ever-rare four-point play after being fouled on a three-pointer. After netting the charity toss, USC Aiken had taken a 44-40 lead.

After a foul by Butler, he was whistled for a technical as the Eagles connected on four straight free throws, taking a 45-44 lead – one they would not relinquish.

A Patton lay-up trimmed the deficit to three at 63-60 with 7:300 to go, but the visitors netted six straight points for a 69-60 lead with 4:49 to play. USC Aiken would not get any closer the rest of the way.

The Pacers shot 25-for-65 from the floor, including 12-for-31 from the three-point stripe. USC Aiken was outscored 34-24 in the paint.  

The Pacers return to action on Sunday, Nov. 29 against Florida Southern at 3:30 p.m.