YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a hard fought 83-81 game at Young Harris Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 10-7 overall and 7-6 in league play.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Doniel Dean's season-high 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the floor. Henry Bolton III poured in 19 markers while Markus Terry and Paris Ballinger added 13 and 12, respectively.

Dean and Bolton III each dished out four assists.

Robert Hill snagged a team-best nine rebounds while Faison Brock pulled down eight in the contest.  Hill also swatted away three shots.

After trailing 19-6 in the early going of the game, Vanderslice's team battled its way back late in the opening stanza. An old-fashioned three-point play by Dean pulled the squad within two at 28-26 before the Pacers ended the half trailing 37-33.

Tied at 44-44, USC Aiken embarked on a 9-2 spurt. During the run, Dean hit a three-ball, Ballinger made a lay-up and Terry hit a runner in the lane. Dean completed the spurt with a lay-up.

YHC tied the game at 60-60 and the teams had a back-and-forth affair from that point forward. A pair of free throws by Dean gave the Pacers a 71-68 advantage with 1:35 to play. However, USC Aiken was unable to score again in regulation. Tied at 71-71 with 19 seconds to go, the Pacers called time-out to set up a final play. However, a turnover with three seconds to go gave the Mountain Lions one last opportunity, but the home squad could not get a shot off, forcing overtime.

Trailing 75-71, Bolton III hit a lay-up with 3:52 to play. Dean knotted the contest at the 2:41 mark. USC Aiken took a 78-77 lead with 1:13 to go on a bucket by Dean, but the visitors turned the ball over. A basket and three straight free throws by YHC pushed the score to 82-78.

Ballinger took a pass from Bolton III and buried a three-ball with 25 ticks to play. YHC hit one-of-two from the stripe with 23 seconds to go and USC Aiken missed a pair of shots in the waning seconds.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 29-of-66 from the floor (43.9 percent), but managed to bury just seven-of-24 from downtown (29.2 percent). The squad got to the line 25 times, sinking 16 (64 percent).

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they travel to Francis Marion at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.