AIKEN – USC Aiken's Santoine Butler scored his team's final seven points as the 17th-ranked Pacers rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit and survived a last-second shot to avoid Lander's Peach Belt Conference upset bid 61-60 Wednesday night.

Aiken improved to 19-3 overall and 11-1 in the PBC. Lander, which led 40-22 at halftime, fell to 13-8, 7-5.

Michael Panaggio led the Bearcats with 15 points, Jareal Smith scored 11 points and Darius Carrier added 10 points. Dermaine Smith, JR Washington and Carrier led Lander with six rebounds apiece.

DeVontae Wright led the Pacers with 14 points. Butler added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while also contributing three blocked shots. Paul Larsen scored 12 points and Jesse Seilern added 10 points.

Aiken survived despite making only three of 12 free throws (25 percent). The Pacers hit 26 of 50 shots from the floor (52 percent) and six of 17 from 3-point range (35 percent) while out-rebounding Lander 38-30.

The Bearcats made 24 of 57 shots (42 percent), only nine of 16 free throws (56 percent) and three of 15 from behind the arc (20 percent). Lander did not score a field goal over the final seven-plus minutes of the game.

After Larsen gave Aiken an 11-10 lead with 13:26 left in the opening half, Lander went on a 15-2 run. Jareal Smith and Washington hit 3s, Carrier scored twice, and Panaggio and Mario Pendarvis each added two-pointers for a 25-13 Bearcats lead just inside the nine-minute mark.

Ronald Zimmerman hit a 3 and Wright scored to pull the Pacers within 25-18. But Lander responded with another run, this time scoring eight unanswered points to build a 33-18 advantage at the four-minute mark. Panaggio scored twice during the run.

The Bearcats closed the half with a 7-0 run capped by Panaggio's 3-pointer with six seconds left to lead 40-22 at the break.

But Aiken opened the second half with 14 unanswered points, pulling within 40-36 on Seilern's 3 with 13:46 left. Seilern scored eight of the 14 points.

Lander finally scored its first points of the second half at the 13:11 mark on Panaggio's basket, and Carrier's layup gave the Bearcats a 44-38 lead with 12:37 left.

But Zimmerman made back-to-back treys to pull the Pacers into a 44-all tie with 11:48 to go, completing a 22-4 run over the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the second half.

Dermaine Smith made three of four free throws to put Lander back on top, and Jareal Smith's jumper gave the Bearcats a 51-48 lead with 9:35 left.

Dermaine Smith's layup extended Lander's lead to 53-48 at the eight-minute mark, and his jumper upped the advantage to seven with 7:22 left. But that would be the team's last field goal of the night. Washington's free throw made it 56-48 with 5:55 to go.

Wright's basket with 5:34 left was Aiken's first basket since the 10-minute mark, pulling the hosts within 56-50. Larsen's dunk closed the Pacers within four with 4:48 to go, and his layup cut it to 56-54 with 4:08 left.

Jareal Smith's free throws gave the Bearcats a 58-54 lead with 3:57 to go. But Butler's 3 pulled the Pacers within 58-57 at the 3:25 mark, starting his run of seven straight points.

After Lander's Panaggio missed the front end of a one-and-one, Butler gave Aiken its first lead of the second half on a dunk off a pass from Seilern to make it 59-58 with 2:31 to go.

After a Bearcats turnover, Aiken wound up with the ball for almost a minute due to Seilern's offensive rebound of Zimmerman's missed 3. With a fresh shot clock, Butler scored inside with 1:06 left for a 61-58 advantage.

With 49 seconds left, it was Lander's turn to get a big offensive rebound as Carrier grabbed Panaggio's missed 3. Twenty seconds later, with 29 seconds left, Carrier made two free throws to pull the Bearcats within 61-60.

Butler missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22 seconds left, and Carrier grabbed the defensive rebound giving Lander a chance to win the game on its final possession. But Jareal Smith missed a 3-point attempt with two seconds to go as Butler grabbed the rebound to clinch the victory.