COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team scored the final eight points of the game for an 83-79 road victory at Columbus State Wednesday evening.
The Pacers are now 8-0 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Cougars are now 5-2 overall and 1-1 against conference competition.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team was paced by
Xzavier Barmore's team-high 21 points.
Ty'lik Evans and
Robert Hill totaled 17 points apiece while
Doniel Dean tallied 14 markers to go along with nine rebounds.
Hill picked up a double-double by sharing squad-high honors with 10 rebounds.
Faison Brock accounted for 10 boards as well.
USC Aiken took an 11-7 lead on a jumper by Dean, but the Cougars reeled off 11 straight points for an 18-11 advantage. A three-ball from Evans knotted the contest at 18-18 with 11:27 to go in the first half.
Trailing 40-30 at the 3:53 mark, Vanderslice's squad cut into the deficit prior to the halftime break. Barmore hit an inside shot with 2:26 to go, making it 41-37, but the Pacers trailed 44-38 entering the second half.
USC Aiken fell behind 59-44 with 12:03 to go, but quickly embarked on a 9-0 spurt over an 80-second period thanks in part to
Darius Bell, Barmore,
Kyle Tackeberry and Hill.
The Pacers pulled within two at 63-61 on a pair of charity tosses from Barmore. He followed it up on the ensuing possession with a three-ball for a one-point lead.
The squads traded leads, but the Cougars managed to gain a four-point advantage at 73-69. Barmore's jumper pulled the Pacers within two at 77-75, but CSU answered with two free throws with 1:17 to go for a 79-75 edge.
After the two points by the home team, Barmore knocked down a straight-away three-point shot off a pass from Brock. An offensive foul gave the ball back to USC Aiken and Hill quickly converted a pass from Barmore into a lay-up despite getting fouled.
Although Hill missed the free throw,
Myles Washington secured the rebound. He tried a short jumper, but was off the mark. Evans snagged the rebound and put it in. After absorbing contact, he calmly converted a free throw for the final point of the game.
For the game, USC Aiken hit 31-of-82 from the floor (37.8 percent), including five-of-30 from downtown (16.7 percent). The squad buried 16-of-27 from the charity stripe (59.3 percent).
USC Aiken accounted for 14 points off the bench compared to 10 by the home squad. The Pacers converted 18 miscues into 23 points while allowing just nine points following a mistake.
Thanks in part to Hill's big game, USC Aiken held a 44-34 edge in the paint.
The Pacers return to action Saturday when they host Paine at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
