AIKEN, SC – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team recorded a 90-75 win over the Clayton State Lakers on Saturday afternoon in front of a tremendous crowd for Homecoming.
 
The Pacers are now 21-5 on the season and 12-4 in conference play.
 
Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Rhyjon Blackwell who scored 24 points and added two steals. Jameel Rideout contributed 18 points. Tyler Johnson notched 15 points and seven rebounds. Simeon German and Demitrios Dixon added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
 
The Pacers found themselves down by as many as 13 points in the first period, but they brought the deficit back to single digits at halftime to make it 35-30. Blackwell had a team high nine points in the first half. Rideout contributed six points from two three-pointers in as many attempts. Johnson capped off his first half performance with seven points and a steal.
 
Johnson scored the first six points of the second half for the Pacers. Rideout brought the game to one possession at the 17:33 mark with his third three-pointer of the evening. Blackwell knotted the game at 50 off a layup. A Chedlet Delva block the following possession led to a Tehree Horn three-point shot, giving the Pacers their first lead of the game with 11:51 to play.
 
Rideout continued scoring at ease, adding nine more points after the Pacers took the lead. The home team's lead reached double digits at 8:01 when Dixon drained a three. The Lakers would not come within single digits for the remainder of the game.

Delva found Blackwell for a three-ball at the 6:41 mark, pushing the margin to 13. Leading 74-61, Horn hit Blackwell for another shot from distance. A jumper by German extended the advantage to 18, 79-61. Moments later, Dixon connected with German for a dunk, giving the home team an 85-65 edge. A pair of Blackwell free throws with 1:44 to play gave the Pacers their largest lead of the game, 89-65.
 
Vanderslice's squad finished the game shooting 29-58 (50 percent) from the floor and 11-21 (52.4 percent) from beyond the arc. The team added 21 points from the charity stripe on 26 attempts, converting on 80.8 percent of their free throws.
 
The team will hit the road Wednesday evening to play North Georgia at 7:30. Live stats and video will be available on PacerSports.com.