MORROW, Ga. --- USC Aiken's Tehree Horn scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as the Pacers rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat Tusculum University 85-75 Friday afternoon in the men's basketball season-opener for both teams.
The game was held at Barfield Court on the campus of Clayton State University and part of this weekend's Peach Belt Conference / South Atlantic Conference Challenge.
USC Aiken (1-0) used a 23-8 run over the final 8:34 including a 10-0 spurt over the last three minutes to secure the win. TU's William Vedder tied the game at 75-75 with his layup with 2:55 left, but the Pioneers would miss their final four shots and commit a pair of costly turnovers down the stretch. The Pacers went 11-of-11 from the charity stripe in the second half, including 8-of-8 in the last 1:49.
David Strother added 20 points and went 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Strother went 8-of-8 from the foul line in the second half as he scored 14 markers in the final period.
USC Aiken capitalized on 19 Tusculum turnovers resulting into 26 points. The Pacers turned the ball over five times on the day including two times in the second half.
Vedder led the Pioneers with his 15 points as he went 7-of-10 from the floor and hauled in four rebounds in his Tusculum debut. Freshman KJ Crump added 14 points off the bench in his first TU game as he went 4-of-5 from three-point territory. James West IV tallied 11 points on his three 3-pointers, while Justin Mitchell added nine points and a team-best six rebounds.
USCA led early 15-11 as the Pioneers went on a 9-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage at the 8:02 mark of the half following a Vedder layup. After a USCA bucket, Justin Mitchell scored five straight to move the Tusculum lead to 25-17 with 6:13 to go in the half.
The Pacers went on an 8-1 spurt to trail 27-26 following a three-point play by Preston Parks. But TU would end the half with a 10-3 run which was sparked by back-to-back triples from Makai Olden as the Pioneers took a 37-29 lead into the locker room.
Parks scored the first basket of the second half only to see TU score five in a row thanks to a Jalen Crowder three-points and a West basket as the Pioneers took their largest lead of the game at 42-31 with 18:33 remaining.
The Pacers responded with a 14-4 run over a 3:30 span to trim the TU lead to 46-45. Crump and Horn exchanged three-pointers and Brandon Mitchell made a layup as the Pioneers led 54-48 at the 13:10 mark.
Back came Aiken with a 12-5 run to give the Pacers their first lead of the second half at 60-59 with 10:35 to go thanks to a Demitrios Dixon layup.
Tusculum answered with an 8-2 spurt, sparked by a Inady Legiste three-pointer and a Crump jumper as TU led 67-62 with 8:34 left on the clock.
USCA scored five straight to tie the game at 67-67 with under seven minutes remaining. West buried a three-pointer for a 70-67 TU lead to break the tie. The Pacers followed with a 6-1 run and regained the lead at 73-71 with 4:11 left thanks to a pair of Strother free throws.
Justin Mitchell tied the game at 73-73 with his basket, but Tyler Johnson retook the lead at 75-73 with his jumper with 3:14 remaining. Vedder would get an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the game for the seventh and final time before the Pacers would close out the game with 10 straight to secure the win.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 50 percent including a sizzling 14-of-30 from three-point territory (46.7%). The rebound battle was tied at 34-34, but the Pacers accounted for 12 offensive rebounds resulting in 14 second-chance points.
Tusculum will face host Clayton State on Saturday at 4 p.m. to close out its two non-conference games to open the season.
