AIKEN, SC – The No. 21 University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team lost a hard-fought 64-60 game Wednesday night to the No. 6 North Georgia Nighthawks. 

The Pacers are now 15-4 on the season and 6-3 in conference play.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's squad was led by Simeon German's career-high 16 points to go along with seven blocks. Tyler Johnson chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. Rhyjon Blackwell added nine points. Demitrios Dixon, Devin Evans and Jameel Rideout had six points apiece while Tehree Horn tallied five points, seven boards and two steals. 

The tone of the game was set on the first possession as the Pacers forced a shot clock violation on defense. At the 11:45 mark in the first half, Vanderslice's squad found themselves down 13-9.

German would convert a steal into three points through a tough lay-up and a free throw. He followed it with a block the following possession.

Blackwell tied the game at 16-16, and then hit a three-pointer to give the Pacers a 19-16 lead. German collected two blocks in one possession, giving him three on the night. He finished another contested lay-up on the ensuing play. 

Rideout hit a three-point shot to start the Pacers' second half-scoring. German continued his dominance by adding two more blocks by the 15:00 mark. 

Dixon finished a lay-up while being fouled and converting the three-point play, creating a 44-41 lead. This sparked a 7-0 run for the Pacers as they reached their largest lead of the game up to this point. Suffocating defense continued to be played for the rest of the evening.

After an amazing night, German fouled out with 1:16 to play. The Pacers found themselves trailing 59-55 at this point. Johnson was fouled and connected on both free throws to cut the deficit to two. An offensive foul was called on the Nighthawks with 21 seconds to play, giving the Pacers the ball back. A foul was called and USC Aiken had a chance to knot the score. However, the squad was unable to convert and was forced to foul UNG. The Nighthawks made two charity tosses for the final tally. 

The Pacers finished the game shooting 36.5 percent from the field. They forced 15 turnovers, leading to 10 points. The squad registered 28 points in the paint.

The team returns to action Saturday evening against the Georgia College & State Bobcats for a second straight home contest at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on PacerSports.com.