AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a 59-52 contest to UNC Pembroke Wednesday evening in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers are now 2-10 on the year and 0-5 against league foes. The Braves are 7-7 overall and 1-4 against conference competition.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was guided by Keith Belfield's game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Jevon Patton contributed 12 points and a game-high five assists.

Arbry Butler accounted for six points, six boards and a game-best six blocks before fouling out after 24 minutes of work. Andrew Glover netted five points, Gavin Stephenson had four and Kyle Buffkin rounded out the scoring with two points.

After trailing 11-10 at the 13:34 mark, Belfield rattled off five straight points. Butler and Patton added back-to-back lay-ups for a 19-11 advantage.

Leading 19-15, Belfield hit three straight free throws for a seven-point margin with 4:48 to play. Patton hit two charity tosses and after a jumper by the visitors, Belfield hit a shot for a 26-17 margin. USC Aiken scored six of the next eight points for a 32-19 advantage heading into the break.

After Belfield hit a jumper to open the second half, the Braves slowly whittled away the margin, making it a 38-32 game with 14:40 to go. USC Aiken extended the lead to nine on a lay-up by Buffkin to push the score to 45-36, but UNC Pembroke scored the next nine points to knot the game.

Glover was fouled on a three-point attempt and made the first two free throws for a 47-45 lead. The visitors, however, scored the next seven markers for a 52-47 advantage.

The Pacers made it a one-point game at 52-51 on Patton's jumper with 2:46 to play, but the Braves managed to keep Vanderslice's team at bay en route to the seven-point win.

USC Aiken connected on 18-of-54 shots from the floor (33.3 percent), including a four-of-20 effort from downtown (20 percent). The squad got to the line 16 times, hitting 12 attempts (75 percent).

The Pacers were narrowly out-rebounded, 44-42. USC Aiken distributed eight assists compared to six by the visitors. The team also had eight blocks while the Braves swatted away four attempts.

The Pacers return to action Saturday at 3:30 p.m., when they host Flagler in a league showdown. Live stats, video and audio will be available at PacerSports.com.