GREENWOOD – USC Aiken's Alvin Brown scored two key baskets in the final minutes as the Pacers outlasted the Lander Bearcats 67-62 in a Peach Belt Conference game Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander fell to 7-9 overall and 1-8 in the PBC despite a big game from Jermel Kennedy, who scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half. Kennedy also had a game-high 10 rebounds, giving the junior forward a double-double.
Aiken improved to 11-6 overall and 5-5 in the Peach Belt.
Byron Faison led the Pacers with 17 points, Brown and Re'mon Nelson scored 11 points apiece, and Jesse Seilern added 10 points. Kevin Willis led Aiken with seven rebounds.
The 6-foot-10 Brown added five blocked shots Saturday after blocking a Peach Belt record 13 shots Monday in a victory over North Georgia College & State University. The Aiken sophomore has 18 blocked shots in his last two games.
Calvin Liptrot added 13 points for Lander, David Pruett scored 11 points, and Tovi Bailey added 10 points and six assists.
After Faison scored in the paint to give the Pacers a 60-58 lead with 3:31 to go, Lander took its first lead in almost nine minutes of action, 61-60, on Liptrot's 3-pointer from the left side at the 3:03 mark.
The lead changed hands again when Brown took an alley-oop pass from Nelson to the left of the basket, ducked under the goal, and made a layup on the right side as everyone else stood around believing there was possibly a traveling violation.
Bailey's free throw tied it at 62-all with 2:12 left, but Brown scored again inside to put the Pacers back on top for good with 1:57 left.
After two Lander missed shots, Aiken's Michael Technow converted an open layup on a pass from Brown with 50 seconds to go, his only points of the game, extending the Pacers' lead to 66-62.
Lander's Pruett missed a jumper in the lane with 32 seconds left. Sterling Council added one free throw and the Bearcats missed a couple more shots in the waning seconds.
Nelson hit back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-0 run that gave USC Aiken a 12-4 lead in the game's first four minutes.
After Liptrot hit a 3-pointer and Pruett made a layup off Liptrot's steal to pull Lander within 12-9, the Pacers scored eight unanswered points including three baskets by Faison for a 20-9 lead under the 12-minute mark. It would be the team's biggest lead of the game.
But Aiken began struggling with turnovers and the Bearcats climbed back into the game when Kennedy hit a 3-pointer, Quentin Bastian scored in the paint, and Bailey was credited with a goal-tending basket to pull the hosts within 20-16.
Faison's long 3-pointer from the left side ended Aiken's nearly six-minute scoring drought, pushing the Pacer lead to 23-16 at the six-minute mark.
But Lander pulled within a possession on a basket by Liptrot and Pruett's 3-pointer, making it 23-21. After Brandon Shepherd's 3-pointer pushed Aiken's lead to five, Bailey brought the Bearcats back within a possession with a basket to make it 26-23.
The Pacers used an 8-2 run to build their lead back up to eight, 34-26, including Seilern's 3-pointer. Bailey ended the first half with a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to cut Lander's deficit to 34-28 at the break.
Bailey's 3-pointer from the top of the key and Pruett's trey from the right side pulled the Bearcats into a 34-all tie at the 18:40 mark of the second half. Aiken regained a 40-35 lead with a 6-1 run including two baskets by Brown.
Kennedy ended the run with a thunderous dunk to pull Lander within 40-37 at the 17-minute mark, and Kennedy made two free throws to cut it to 42-39.
After the Pacers had about a minute-long possession that included several offense rebounds, one of their players was called for travelling, opening the door for the hosts to tie the game at 42 with 14:21 left on Kennedy's three-point play.
Lander took its first lead of the second half on Kennedy's basket in the paint, making it 44-43 at the 12:05 mark, and Bastian scored inside off Bailey's steal and pass to up the lead to three.
But the Pacers regained the lead with a 7-0 run when Willis scored twice and Nelson hit a 3-pointer for a 50-46 lead with 9:37 to go. After Kennedy scored inside for Lander to tie the game at 50 at the 8:35 mark, Aiken regained the lead on Seilern's 3-pointer from the left side.
The Pacers twice led by four, but the hosts kept battling and tied the game again at 58-all with 3:43 left on a jumper by Kennedy, his 14th and 15th points of the second half.
For the game, Lander made 23 of 64 shots from the floor (36 percent), nine of 14 free throws (64 percent) and seven of 16 from 3-point range (44 percent).
Aiken hit 26 of 49 shots (53 percent), eight of 14 free throws (57 percent), and seven of 18 from behind the arc (39 percent). The Pacers had a 37-33 edge on the boards.
