Pacer men knock off No. 9 Jaguars
Jan. 26—USC AIKEN 81, No. 9 AUGUSTA 76
The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team posted an 81-76 victory over No. 9 Augusta Wednesday evening.
The Pacers are now 14-5 (7-2 PBC). The Jaguars fall to 16-3 (7-2 PBC).
The Pacers were led by Tehree Horn's 16 points in 28 minutes of action. Jameel Rideout accounted for 13 points on four-of-seven shooting. Demetrios Dixon was perfect from the floor shooting four-of-four with two three pointers. He also hit his one free throw attempt for 11 points.
Tyler Johnson chipped in nine markers while Karon Boyd added eight points and four rebounds. Daniel Parris tallied seven points while Jalen McCoy and Jammy Pierre-Louis totaled six points and five points, respectively.
Samba Ndiaye and Chedlet Delva posted three points apiece. Ndiaye snagged four boards while Delva had three.
After controlling most of the first half, the Pacers found themselves behind by one at the 42-second mark left in the half after a three pointer by the Jaguars. The Pacers responded with their own shot from downtown by Rideout with 14 seconds left. Augusta scored the last basket of the half with less than four seconds to play, making it 38-37 in favor of the visitors.
Rideout led the Pacers in the first half on 3-5 shooting with all three buckets from 3-point land in 15 minutes of work.
Rideout took a pass from DeShawn Thomas 13 seconds into the second period and canned a three-ball, giving the Pacers a 40-38 lead. Tied at 40-40, Johnson's jumper gave USC Aiken a lead it would not relinquish.
After a nip-and-tuck affair that saw the visitors pull within one multiple times, head coach Mark Vanderslice's team managed to build a 13-point advantage with 7:25 to play when Johnson found Horn for a lay-up on the break.
Augusta trimmed the margin to six with 4:29 to play, but Dixon answered with a floater for an eight-point lead. Pierre-Louis stripped the ball and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up, propelling the margin to 10, 73-63.
A four-point play by the visitors cut the lead to two, 75-73, with 1:09 to play in the game. Just 18 seconds later, Dixon found Johnson for a shot from downtown. After Horn snagged a defensive rebound, he was fouled and hit one free throw for a 79-73 lead. With 12 seconds to go, Boyd sealed the deal with a lay-up off a pass from Johnson. AU tallied three points with five seconds to play, but Horn ran the clock out for the win.
For the game, USC Aiken shot 30-53 (56.6 percent) for the night and 9-17 (52.9 percent) from behind the arc. The Pacers bench outscored The Jaguars bench 35-5. The home team also maintained a 12-0 advantage on the break.
The Pacers return to action Saturday when they play at No. 18 and PBC-leading North Georgia at 3:30 p.m.
