COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 24 and second-seeded USCA men's basketball team lost a 91-87 game to third-seeded (No. 10) Lenoir-Rhyne Sunday evening in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Pacers conclude the season at 24-9.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Rhyjon Blackwell's 22-point, five-assist effort. Jalen McCoy added 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two assists. Davion Cunningham notched 13 points while Cam Perkins tallied 12 points. Caleb Byrd netted 10 points. Chedlet Delva added six points and four rebounds while Simeon German had four points and four boards. Rafael Rubel hit a three-ball and had a block.

Trailing 8-6 in the early going, Rubel found Blackwell for a three-ball at the 16:41 mark. Down by one, Perkins connected from distance for a two-point margin.

Tied at 12-12, Perkins hit a shot from downtown. Blackwell found McCoy for a three-point bucket before Perkins netted the next four points for a 22-12 lead at the 12:38 mark.

Up 24-23, Blackwell canned two charity tosses. McCoy converted a pair of inside buckets for a 30-23 margin with 6:54 to play. Another 4-0 spurt, including a thunderous dunk from Delva, propelled the Pacers to a 34-25 advantage with 6:26 in the half.

With the score at 41-38, Blackwell buried a pair of charity tosses before drilling a three-point shot off a pass from Perkins at the 1:23 mark. The Bears finished the half on a 6-0 spurt to make it 46-44 in favor of the Pacers at the break.

Leading 48-46, Cunningham made a lay-up. McCoy and Cunningham hit two foul shots apiece for a 54-46 advantage. Tied at 63-63, Cunningham hit a jumper at the 10:58 mark. L-R rattled off four points for a two-point edge, but McCoy converted an inside shot.

The Bears took a 71-67 lead, but Blackwell found Byrd for a shot from distance to make it a one-point contest. Down 77-72, Perkins found McCoy for a floater with 4:53 to play. Trailing 80-74, German, Byrd and Perkins each hit lay-ups, knotting the score at 80-80 with 3:24 to play.

L-R scored six consecutive points, but Blackwell trimmed the deficit to four on a pair of free throws with 1:22 remaining. Down by six, 88-82, McCoy found Cunningham for a three-point bucket with 38 ticks on the clock. The Bears made it a two-possession game with a pair of free throws, but Cunningham hit two charity tosses with 19 ticks on the clock.

USCA fouled and the visitors hit one-of-two for a four-point margin with 10 seconds to go.  

For the game, USCA hit 29-of-62 (46.8 percent) from the floor, including 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from the three-point line. Vanderslice's team canned 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe. The Pacers held a 34-29 edge on the glass, including a 15-9 margin on the offensive boards. USCA led for 24:43, but did not lead after the 10:39 mark in the second half. The designated home team scored 16 points on the break and had 28 points off the bench.