AIKEN, S.C. – Second half offense, late defense and a standout game from senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) led Clayton State (7-18, 5-13 PBC) to a 92-91 upset at USC Aiken (17-11, 13-5 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, February 22.
 
Kincey played all 40 minutes, scoring 16 points and dishing out a career-high 11 assists along with two steals and a pair of boards to lead the Lakers. That assist total was the most since SirDarius Henry dished out that same amount against Carver on November 26, 2013.
 
Sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) did the work on the boards as he added 12 to go with his 16 points and redshirt-junior center Tionne Williams, Jr. (Phenix City, Ala.) just missed a double-double with 13 points, nine caroms and a pair of steals.
 
Sophomore guard Arusha Hunter (Snellville, Ga.) led with 18 points and was joined by redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) with 13 points and sophomore forward Gabriel Joseph-Bryan (Bronx, N.Y.) with 10 points. Junior guard Byron Abrams (Conyers, Ga.) rounded things out with six points, eight rebounds and four assists.
 
The Pacers would live up to their name as they did just that – set the pace – as they climbed out to leads of 17-9 and 22-13 before Clayton State stemmed the tide to get to within 22-18 by the 8:35 mark of the first half. A 7-2 burst by USCA pushed it back to a nine point spread before eventually extending to a 45-31 margin with 1:43 to play. From there they would close out the opening frame with a 50-36 lead.
 
That would tighten up in the second half as the Pacers maintained at least a seven point lead until 10:54 remained. With a nine point margin a little over a minute later, all that would start to change as the Lakers offense came to life, mounting a 22-9 run behind eight points from Hunter and six from Gabriel Joseph-Bryan. That outburst put them ahead 85-81 with 3:26 to play.
 
With the score at 89-84 at the 1:14 mark, USC Aiken began to battle back as they notched a pair of layups and a free throw to fuel a 5-1 mini run that cut the deficit to 90-89 with 33 seconds showing. Following a foul and a pair of free throws by Kincey that stretched it to 92-89, Gus Rowland hit a jumper to pull the Pacers back to within one with 18 seconds to play.
 
On an inbound play under the basket, Clayton State would then heave a pass deep down court before what looked like a breakaway dunk turned into the ball skittering away out of bounds, giving USCA another chance. It would be one that they would not capitalize on, however, as Hunter came away with a steal with two seconds left and the Lakers salted away the one point victory off a missed free throw to run out the clock.
 
Faison Brock led the Pacers with 21 points, 12 boards, four assists and a pair of steals while Shaquan Jules led with a game-high 22 points. Dhieu Deing added 16 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists and Gus Rowland had 17 points and three assists. Robert Hill closed out the top performers with six points and eight caroms.
 
The Lakers are back in action as they head to Flagler on Wednesday, February 26. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. in St. Augustine, Florida.