AIKEN, S.C. –
Damontez Oliver buried a wing three-point shot with under 10 seconds to play as the University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team notched a 67-65 victory over Southern Wesleyan.
The Pacers are now 4-5 on the year while the Warriors fall to 5-3.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team was led by
Xzavier Barmore's 16-point effort.
Shaquan Jules accounted for 15 points on six-of-seven shooting while
Faison Brock tallied 14 points and seven boards in 37 minutes of action.
Dhieu Deing chipped in nine points to go along with six points and three thefts.
Trailing 26-14 with 11:45 to play in the first half, Barmore took a pass from
Gus Rowland and buried a three-ball. After a defensive board from Barmore, he flipped it ahead to
Dhieu Deing for the dunk.
Down by six at 33-27, Barmore sliced the defense for a running jumper, pulling the team within four. After a miss by Deing, Oliver soared and tipped it in with 2:54 to go. With 1:44 to play, Brock stole the ball and went the length of the court before throwing down a dunk, knotting the score at 33-33. The Warriors managed to take a 35-33 lead into the break.
For the game, USC Aiken knocked in 26-of-51 from the floor (51.0 percent). The squad assisted on 13 of the 26 made field goals. Vanderslice's team outscored the visitors 40-16 in the paint and 21-6 on the break.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair but Rowland canned a pair of free throws to go up 55-52. With 51 seconds to go, Rowland's free throw pushed the margin to six at 64-58, but the visitors regained a 65-64 lead with 20 ticks left in regulation.
After a time-out by USC Aiken, Rowland found Oliver for a three-ball with seven seconds remaining for a 67-65 advantage. SWU had a three-point try with two seconds left, but it rimmed out and Oliver snagged the rebound, securing the victory.
The Pacers return to action on Sunday, Dec. 15, when they open league play at North Georgia. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.