AIKEN - It happened Saturday night at Newberry. And once again, it occurred Wednesday night against Catawba.
USC Aiken found itself in a huge hole, and it couldn't quite climb out.
This time, the Pacers fell down by double digits early in the second half and watched a furious rally fall short in a 73-66 loss to the Indians.
Franchot Brown, Arnold Coates and Curt Triplin each scored 10 points as USC Aiken lost its third consecutive game to fall to 3-3.
"The problem we have is we haven't realized a sense of urgency until that happens," Pacers coach Mike Roberts said. "If we played as hard as we did the last 10 minutes for say 30 minutes, we wouldn't get into a situation like that."
After a 90-point outburst against undermanned Carver Bible College, USC Aiken has struggled to put points on the board.
Against Catawba, the Pacers went 24-for-61 from the field with a good chunk of their baskets coming late in the game.
Catawba (3-2) led 34-27 at halftime. The Indians scored eight straight to open the second half and extend their advantage to 15.
The Pacers chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within 46-41 on a Josh Geyer 3-pointer.
It was a familiar situation for USC Aiken, which overcame an 18-point deficit to tie Newberry in the final minute Saturday before losing by three.
The Pacers, who haven't shot better than 40 percent since their season opener, trailed by 12 in the final two minutes
But they tried to mount a seemingly insurmountable comeback.
Coates knocked down a jumper. Richard Glover swished a 3-pointer. Coates slammed home two points.
USC Aiken trailed 69-64 with 48 seconds remaining. Catawba, though, made four free throws the rest of the way to seal the victory.
"We're still trying to find ourselves and see what our guys do best," Roberts said. "Where we are is we're trying to see if we can play hard 40 minutes instead of 15 or 20."
CATAWBA (3-2)-Helgi Magnusson 7-13 7-8 23, Jolly Manning 2-5 3-5 7, Andy Thomson 1-6 0-0 3, Brian Graves 2-12 5-8 9, Ahmad Murphy 2-6 1-2 5, Brian Frasier 0-3 2-2 2, Jorvewe Gibson 1-3 0-0 2, Rokus Bartasius 6-8 1-2 14, Jason Diggs 0-1 0-0 0, Jamel Hamilton 1-6 0-1 2, Zach Snyder 2-3 2-5 6. Totals: 24-66 21-33 73.
USC AIKEN (3-3)-Franchot Brown 4-6 2-4 10, Richard Glover 3-5 1-2 9, Arnold Coates 5-8 0-0 10, Richard Blocker 3-14 1-3 9, Trent Boyd 1-6 2-2 9, Curt Triplin 3-7 4-4 10, Anthony Sampson 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Poston 2-4 1-2 5, Josh Geyer 2-6 0-0 5, Kenny Burr 0-3 0-0 0, Marcus Robinson 1-2 1-6 3. Totals: 24-61 12-23 66.
Halftime: Catawba 34-27 3-point goals: Catawba 4-19 (Magnusson 2-7, Thomson 1-3, Graves 0-3, Frasier 1-2, Bartasius 1-2, Diggs 0-1, Hamilton 0-2), USC Aiken 6-22 (Glover 2-3, Blocker 2-10, Boyd 1-4, Poston 0-1, Geyer 1-2, Burr 0-2). Rebounds: Catawba 46 (Magnusson 8), USC Aiken 46 (Brown 10). Assists: Catawba 15 (Graves 6), USC Aiken 13 (Blocker 5). Turnovers: Catawba 12, USC Aiken 16. Fouls: Catawba 18, USC Aiken 22. Fouled out: Brown. A-1,528
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