GREENWOOD, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team was unable to complete its comeback attempt in the 71-59 loss at Lander Wednesday evening in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers are now 3-11 on the season and 1-6 against conference competition. The Bearcats are 12-4 overall and 6-1 against league foes.

Keith Belfield led all scorers with 18 points – all of which came from behind the three-point stripe. He canned six-of-10 shots from downtown in the game. Arbry Butler accounted for 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out while Tavares Sledge posted 13 points, seven boards and four assists in his first outing of the season.

Hendrix Emu opened the game with a three-pointer from the wing, but Lander answered with a 12-0 run. Sledge managed to ensure the run came to an end with a pair of free throws at the 14:52 mark. The charity tosses fired the squad up and Sledge promptly buried back-to-back three-pointers, pulling the team within one at 12-11 at the 12:50 mark. After nearly three-minute scoring drought by both squads, Sledge hit his third shot from downtown with 9:02 on the clock, sending the Pacers to a 14-12 lead.

The two squads traded the next four points, with Butler tipping in a shot for a 16-16 draw at the under-eight time-out.

Lander jumped out to a 30-22 lead with 3:33 to play, but Belfield answered with a pair of three-point attempts, pulling the team within four at 32-28. Belfield hit another shot from downtown with 71 seconds to play in the half, but the Bearcats tacked on a late bucket to extend their lead to four, 35-31, at intermission.

Trailing 43-31 early in the second half, Patton nailed a three-pointer, sparking a 10-0 run. Butler hit a free throw before Patton and Emu connected on back-to-back three-pointers for a 43-41 contest. After a shot by Lander, Belfield's shot from downtown pulled the visitors within one at 45-44 with 13:17 to play.

The one-point deficit was as close as the Pacers could get the rest of the way. The Bearcats extended their margin to 12 with 4:02 to play, but Patton and Butler trimmed the deficit to eight with 2:50 to go. Neither team could hit a shot for over a minute and by that time USC Aiken was forced to foul, putting Lander on the charity stripe. The Bearcats managed to hit their free throws down the stretch, keeping the head coach Mark Vanderslice's team at bay.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 21-of-49 from the floor (42.9 percent). The squad canned 13-of-31 from downtown (41.9 percent). The team got to the free throw line just seven times, hitting four, while the Bearcats connected on 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) for the night.

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they play at Georgia Southwestern at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.