FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a 77-62 contest at Fayetteville State Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 5-3 on the season while the Broncos are now 2-6.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Tyler Johnson's 16 points on six-of-seven shooting. He also added six boards and a pair of steals. Jalen McCoy added 10 markers in the loss. Karon Boyd and Jameel Rideout each chimed in with eight points. Boyd snagged six rebounds.

USC Aiken jumped out to a 10-2 lead. McCoy and Johnson netted the first five points of the game. Up 5-2, McCoy and Johnson notched back-to-back lay-ups. A free throw from Johnson pushed the advantage to eight.

FSU reeled off six straight points for a 20-18 lead. However, Devin Evans scored three straight points for a 21-20 advantage. Moments later, a Johnson jumper pulled the visitors within two at 32-30 with 4:06 to go in the half. A 6-0 spurt by the Broncos made it 38-30. Johnson's three-point ball cut the deficit to five, 38-33. Down 40-33, Johnson connected with McCoy for an alley-oop with 29 seconds to play. The home team hit a three-ball with four seconds to go for a 43-35 lead at the break.

The Broncos started the second half on a 17-5 spurt for a 60-40 edge. USC Aiken responded with a 10-0 run of its own. During the spurt, Horn hit a pull-up jumper. Johnson added a bucket. Horn drove through the defense for a lay-up before Boyd and Daniel Parris each knocked down shots to pull within 10, 60-50. However, that was as close as the Pacer could get the rest of the way.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 25-of-60 from the floor (41.7 percent), including five-of-16 from distance (31.3 percent). Vanderslice's team outrebounded the home squad 40-36, including a 16-12 edge on the offensive glass.

The Pacers return to action Saturday, Dec. 10, when they host Clayton State at 3:30 p.m., in the PBC opener. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.