AIKEN, SC – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team recorded a 75-68 victory over the Lander Bearcats to clinch the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title for the second consecutive season.
 
The Pacers finished the regular season with a 23-5 record and 14-4 conference record.
 
Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Jameel Rideout who scored 26 points and had two steals. Jalen McCoy notched 13 points and five rebounds. Tyler Johnson contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Tehree Horn added nine points – and became the school's Division II career scoring leader in the process. His eighth point of the evening gave him 1,522 points, surpassing Kendrick Smith's 1,521 points from 1994-98.
 
The Pacers and Bearcats traded buckets to start the game, and Vanderslice's squad saw their first lead of the game with 12:48 to play in the first period from a Horn three-point jumper. The Pacer lead reached 28-14 with 6:49 to play in the first.
 
Rideout dominated the first half, totaling 21 first half points on 6-10 shooting and 4-6 from three-point range. Holding a 34-29 lead, Johnson converted a jumper in the lane. Rideout hit a basket after a defensive board by Simeon German. Up 38-30, McCoy found Rideout for a three-ball at the 53-second mark, giving the Pacers a 41-30 at the half.
 
The Pacers saw their lead decrease to just two with 10:27 remaining in the game, but a signature McCoy hook shot put it back to four just 25 seconds later. The Bearcats knotted the game 59-59 with seven and a half minutes to play, but another Rideout three gave the Pacers the lead back momentarily.
 
The Bearcats took the lead with 5:31 to play. A Horn fadeaway jumper gave the Pacers the lead at the 3:50 mark, 67-66. Johnson hit a lay-up after to increase the lead to three. A series of defensive stops kept the Pacer lead at three until McCoy and Johnson connected on free throws to ice the game in the waning seconds.
 
The team finished the game shooting 26-70 (37.1 percent) from the floor and 10-22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc. Vanderslice's squad added 13 free throws in 14 attempts (92.9 percent). USC Aiken converted 15 turnovers into 16 points. The home team also outrebounded the visitors 41-32, including a 19-6 edge on the offensive boards.  
 
The Pacers will host the Peach Belt Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday, March 6^th. A complete bracket will be available from the PBC after the final regular-season game.