AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team placed five student-athletes in double figures in the 88-79 win over Catawba Saturday evening.

The Pacers are now 23-8 on the season.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Tyler Johnson's 24 points while Tehree Horn and Jalen McCoy had 18 points apiece. Horn snagged eight rebounds as well.

Karon Boyd tallied 12 points while Demitrios Dixon chipped in 10 points. Samba Ndiaye had six points and collected a game-best 13 rebounds.

The tightly contested first half saw Catawba take a 13-8 lead before Boyd hit an inside jumper. Down 21-14, McCoy found Dixon for a three-ball. Down 22-17, Horn converted a twisting lay-up. His free throw converted the old-fashioned three-point play. Moments later, Boyd's jumper tied the contest at 24-24.

McCoy gave USC Aiken a hard-fought 30-29 lead after a pair of free throws with 6:43 to play in the half. Ndiaye earned three points the hard way for a four-point edge at 35-31. With 1:28 to go, Johnson's free throws gave the Pacers a 45-44 edge. Leading 48-46, McCoy hit another lay-up just before halftime for a 50-46 advantage at the break.

Tied at 51-51 in the early going of the second half, Horn netted five straight points for a 56-51 margin. Dixon found McCoy for a lay-up and seven-point lead. Up 60-53, Johnson took a pass from Rideout for an easy bucket at the 13:01 mark.  

USC Aiken saw its lead dwindle to four, 65-61, before back-to-back three point shots by Johnson extended the margin to 10 at the under-eight minute time-out.

With just over 6:00 to play, Dixon corralled the defensive rebound, juked all five Catawba student-athletes and went coast-to-coast, including a fake behind-the-back pass before converting a twisting lay-up for a 78-64 margin.

The SAC Champions cut the margin to eight, 84-76, but McCoy canned a lay-up. Then he found Horn for a wide-open shot on the break for an 88-76 lead with 2:07 to play.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 29-of-62 from the floor (46.8 percent), including eight-of-23 from downtown (34.8 percent). The squad buried 22-of-32 from the charity stripe (68.8 percent). Vanderslice's team outrebounded the opposition 47-35. His team controlled the paint, scoring 38 for the game.  

The Pacers return to action tomorrow in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 7:30 p.m., against Augusta. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.