AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team notched an 81-73 victory over Lander Saturday afternoon in a non-conference contest.
The Pacers are now 1-1 on the year while the Bearcats drop to 1-2.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team was led by
Anyeuri Castillo's team-high effort of 23 points. He also snagged eight rebounds.
Gus Rowland totaled 14 points and dished out eight assists.
Damontez Oliver accounted for 12 points while
Tyler Johnson and
Jakobi Pearson added 11 and 10, respectively.
Castillo swatted a team-high three shots while Pearson had a team-best three steals in the win.
In the first half, USC Aiken jumped out to a 10-3 lead after an old-fashioned three-point play from Castillo off a pass from
Darius Bell. Leading 22-17, Castillo hit a pair of free throws and Rowland registered a three-point play for a 10-point advantage. Castillo's rebound and tip-in off a miss from
Jalen McCoy gave the home squad a 29-17 advantage with 4:27 to play. The squads played nearly even the rest of the half as the Pacers took a 39-27 lead into the break.
After the break, Vanderslice's team held the lead near double digits or just into double figures for the much of the half. The Bearcats made it a 65-59 contest with 5:56 to go in the game, but eight straight points by the home team essentially secured the win. Oliver made a pair of free throws before Rowland sliced through the lane for an old-fashioned three-point play. Rowland found Oliver for a three-ball, making it 73-59.
The Pacers extended the margin to 16 before a late run pulled Lander within eight with the final bucket of the game.
For the game, USC Aiken hit 26-of-58 from the floor (44.8 percent), including 14-of-28 from downtown (50.0 percent). The squad connected on 15-of 21 from the charity stripe (71.4 percent). The Pacers forced the Bearcats into 22 turnovers and scored 21 points off the miscues.
