MORROW, Ga. – The No. 18 University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a hard-fought 74-72 contest at Clayton State Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 15-3 overall, including 6-2 in league play.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Demitrios Dixon's career-high 17 points on six-of-10 shooting. Tyler Johnson added 16 points while Tehree Horn and Jameel Rideout added 13 points apiece. Rideout snagged five boards and dished out a team-high four assists.

Rhyjon Blackwell added eight points while Simeon German and Devin Evans added four and one, respectively. Blackwell and German had five rebounds each while German swatted three shots.

Up 9-7 in the early going, Dixon rained in a three-point shot. Horn followed it with a floater before Dixon connecting from downtown once again, this time at the 13:00 mark. After a free throw by Evans, Dixon nailed a jumper for a 21-7 edge. Leading 23-18, Blackwell took a pass from Johnson for a lay-up. Johnson twisted through the defense for an old-fashioned three-point play to go up 28-18 with 6:16 to play in the half.

Vanderslice's team maintained a 31-23 advantage before Horn rattled home a shot. Two free throws by Rideout and a charity toss from Horn pushed the score to 36-23. Leading 36-30, Horn nailed a wing-three and Dixon hit a free throw en route to a 40-33 advantage at the break.

Vanderslice's team pushed the lead to nine multiple times early in the second half, but the home team managed to keep it under double digits until Blackwell found Dixon for a jumper at the 14:29 mark for a 54-43 advantage. Clayton State cut the margin to two at the 7:50 mark but USC Aiken was able to extend the advantage to seven when Johnson nailed a three-ball, making it 70-63, with 4:28 to go.

The Lakers close the game on an 11-2 run for the two-point victory. Vanderslice's team had a chance to tie or win the game on the final possession, but a last-second three-point shot narrowly missed.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the floor, including eight-of-23 (34.8 percent) from downtown. The squad hit 10 free throws. The team dished out 12 assists in the game. USC Aiken converted 16 turnovers into 23 points.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they host North Georgia at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.