DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team suffered a 64-52 defeat at the hands of USC Aiken at Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center Wednesday night. 

The loss moves UNG to 13-7 on the season and 5-3 in the Peach Belt Conference. Meanwhile, USC Aiken moved to 13-5 (5-2 Peach Belt) with the win. 

Wednesday's contest began as many Pacers-Nighthawks matchups have in the past. Both teams traded buckets early in what was a close and intense game. Entering Wednesday's meeting, four of the last five matchups between the two programs had been decided by five or fewer points. 

However, USC Aiken came to life offensively in the closing minutes of the first half. 

At 18-17, the Pacers held a slim advantage with 8:15 to play. Yet they would close the half on a 22-8 scoring run and take a 40-25 lead into the locker room. The 15-point advantage was the largest of the night thus far so USC Aiken.

The Nighthawks quickly cut into the lead with back-to-back jumpers from junior guard AJ White to open the second half. 

UNG would eventually cut the lead to just 10 points with 14:30 left to play as both offenses began to slow down. Only six points total were scored over the next four-and-a-half minutes before the Pacers pushed their lead back to 14 points with 10:19 remaining.

Senior guard Sutton Smith knocked down a big three-pointer to get the deficit back to 11 points, but still the offense faced roadblocks in finding rhythm.

While UNG struggled to mount a comeback, USC Aiken slowly but consistently continued scoring. Eventually with 4:03 to play, the Pacers scored to go up 61-42. The 19-point lead was their largest of the entire night.

The Nighthawks responded with a triple from sophomore guard Chase Champion. A few minutes later, senior guard Hunter Shedenhelm knocked down a three as well. UNG would eventually get within 12 points, but without enough time to climb back in the contest as the final buzzer rang with USC Aiken pulling out the victory.

Junior forward Colin Turner and junior guard Cayden Charles each led the Nighthawks in scoring with 12 points. Charles snared a team-high eight rebounds while Turner corralled six boards himself.

UNG can typically counteract a less than desirable shooting night with a good outing at the free throw line. Entering Wednesday's game, the Nighthawks attempted the second-most free throws on average of any team in the conference and made more on average than all their league opponents. That was not the case against the Pacers. 

In all but two games this season, UNG has attempted more free throws than its opponent. That was still the case on Wednesday as the Nighthawks made it to the charity stripe 11 times (with eight makes) while USC Aiken only got there four times (three makes). However, 11 free throw attempts is a new season-low for UNG. In fact, it's the Nighthawks' least amount of free throws attempted since Jan. 17, 2024. 

Now UNG gets ready to head on the road to St. Augustine, Fla. to take on Flagler. Tip off against the Saints is set for Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m.