AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team posted an 85-70 victory over Tusculum Wednesday evening.

The Pacers are now 2-1 on the season while the Pioneers fall to 1-2.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Jalen McCoy's game-high 21 points. Tehree Horn added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists while Tyler Johnson chipped in 14 markers. Jameel Rideout tallied nine points while Rhyjon Blackwell and Demitrios Dixon had seven points apiece.

USC Aiken started off on fire. McCoy hit a jumper to get things going before Horn found Rideout for a deep three-ball. Johnson canned both foul shots for a 7-0 lead at the 17:32 mark. Simeon German took a pass from Johnson and converted an inside shot before Johnson completed the 12-0 spurt off another three-point bucket at the 15:59 mark.

Leading 25-11, Devin Evans tipped in a missed shot for a 27-11 edge. At 8:45 to play in the half, Jammy Pierre-Louis found Dixon, who calmly buried a three-point shot.

The Pioneers cut into the deficit with a 5-0 spurt to make it 39-26 with 2:48 to go. Vanderslice's team built the lead back to 16 but the visitors scored five of the final seven points to make it a 44-31 game at the break.

In the first half, USC Aiken drilled eight-of-15 from downtown (53.3 percent) en route to a 17-of-34 effort from the field.

Leading 55-41, Blackwell hit a pair of free throws. Moments later, Dwight Canady, Jr., hit one-of-two for a 17-point margin. Up by 14, Chedlet Delva hit a charity toss. Dixon was fouled behind the three-point stripe in mid-air and calmly buried all three free throws for a 66-48 advantage.

Horn's charity tosses at the 8:11 mark extended the lead to 20, 68-48. The Pioneers trimmed the margin to 14 but Horn took a pass from Dixon and found the bottom of the net with 6:12 to play. Horn hit one-of-two to make it a 16-point game. Horn added to the total at the 5:27 mark, making it 77-58. 

The visitors cut it to 16 with 3:47 to play but Johnson drained a shot from distance off a pass from Rideout en route to the 15-point victory.

For the game, Vanderslice's team hit 27-of-61 (44.3 percent) from the floor, including 12-of-23 from distance (52.2 percent). The squad got to the line 29 times and hit 19 attempts (65.5 percent). 

USC Aiken accounted for 30 points in the paint. The 16 offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points. Vanderslice's squad managed to get 23 points off the bench. The team led from start to finish.

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they host Limestone at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.