AIKEN, SC – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team recorded a 76-74 win over the USC Beaufort Wednesday night as
Tyler Johnson's last-second shot sealed the second-half comeback.
The Pacers are now 20-5 on the season and 11-4 in conference play.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team was led by
Tehree Horn with 24 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Johnson notched 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Rhyjon Blackwell added twelve points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Demitrios Dixon contributed 11 points and five steals.
Horn got the Pacers off to a hot start, scoring six of the team's first nine points. Twelve of the team's first 15 points came from beyond the arc, creating a 15-4 early advantage for the Pacers. The score was knotted at 25 with 4:21 remaining in the first.
Vanderslice's team found themselves down 36-30 at the half. They connected on 7-18 (38.9 percent) of their deep shots while collecting six steals and three blocks in the opening half.
The Pacers' deficit reached 10 about halfway through the second period, but Horn added five additional points to keep the team alive. Johnson turned a steal into a lay-up, trimming the deficit to five with 6:30 to go.
Dixon made it a four-point game after connecting on his second three-point shot of the night. He drilled another shot with a little over two minutes to cut the deficit to one. Horn gave the Pacers their first lead of the second period off a lay-up.
Johnson extended the lead to three with 40 seconds to play. The Sand Sharks buried on two free throw attempts to bring the home team's lead back to one with 23.7 seconds to play. Blackwell canned both of his free throw attempts, extending the lead to three, 74-71, but the Sand Sharks tied the game with only 4.8 seconds to play on a three-point bucket from the wing. That's when Johnson banked in a runner at the buzzer for the game-winner.
Vanderslice's squad finished the game shooting 12-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe and 10-32 (31.3 percent) from three. The team added 13 steals and six blocks.
The team returns to action at home Saturday afternoon for Homecoming when they host Clayton State at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
