AIKEN, S.C. – A poor shooting performance and a bevy of turnovers opened the door for an upset on Saturday afternoon as the USC Aiken Pacers took down the No. 3 Railsplitters 79-68 at the USC Aiken Convocation Center to conclude the opening weekend of the season. 
 
Lincoln Memorial (1-1) shot just 38 percent from the field and went 10-for-27 from three-point range while turning the ball over 17 times to suffer its earliest loss of the season since dropping the opener in 2015-16. USC Aiken (2-0) only hit 37 percent of its shots but translated those 17 turnovers into 22 points to win the first-ever meeting between the two programs. 
 
It marks only the second time that the Railsplitters have lost on the opening weekend of the season in head coach Josh Schertz's 11-season tenure. 
 
"Credit to Aiken. I thought they played really well and made all the big plays down the stretch," Schertz said. "I thought they dominated all of the effort areas and deserved to win.
 
"We have a very small margin for error with this group and if we don't start controlling the controllables better we will continue to have these results."
 
Cornelius Taylor again carried the LMU offense with a game-high 25 points, but the redshirt-junior needed 26 shots to reach that mark. Taylor went 9-for-26 from the field and 4-of-16 from three-point territory while adding six rebounds, three assists and committing a team-high six turnovers. 
 
Cameron Henry was the only other Railsplitter to hit double figures, scoring 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting to go along with a team-best nine rebounds and three blocks. Alex Dahling chipped in eight points, while Rhondi Hackett and Julius Brown had six points apiece. 
 
Doniel Dean led a quartet of Pacers in double figures with 22 points and five boards. Xzavier Barmore dropped in 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Faison Brock scored 15 points and snagged seven rebounds. Ty'lik Evans notched 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. 
 
The Railsplitters never trailed by more than 12 points but also never led by more than two points, while USC Aiken held the lead for over 37 minutes. 
 
After a jumper from Taylor cut the Pacers' lead to 12-9 at the start, USC Aiken scored seven unanswered points to pull ahead by 10 and force LMU to burn a timeout. 
 
Two three-pointers from Dahling and another from Taylor kept the game close and trimmed the USC Aiken lead to 21-18, but the Pacers never relinquished their advantage and extended it to 29-22 on free throws from Barmore at the 7:27 mark. 
 
The Railsplitters never trailed by less than four for the remainder of the half, while a late free throw by Dean sent the Pacers into the break with a 39-31 cushion. 
 
Lincoln Memorial started fast in the second half as a triple from Taylor and a bucket by Henry made it 41-38. The Pacers continued to lead until another three-pointer from Taylor and baskets by Julius Brown and Henry gave the Railsplitters a brief 47-46 lead with 12:29 left in regulation. 
 
The lead changed hands several times over the next passage of play until the Pacers took it for good with a jumper from Myles Washington and a three-pointer from Barmore, making it a 58-54 lead with 8:17 to go. 
 
After Henry hit a free throw to close the gap to 61-56 with six minutes left, USC Aiken iced the game once and for all on back-to-back backbreaking three-pointers from Dean and Brock. 
 
The Railsplitters whittled the lead down to as little as six points after that, but it never got any closer, while Robert Hill put the finishing touch on the USC Aiken upset with a dunk with 77 seconds remaining on the clock. 
 
Lincoln Memorial was outrebounded 50-47 while USC Aiken turned the ball over just 11 times. The Pacers also earned 25 free throw attempts and knocked down 18 compared to a 6-for-13 effort at the charity stripe for the Railsplitters. 
 
Lincoln Memorial will look to bounce back next Saturday when they make the trip to Memphis, Tenn., to face Christian Brothers. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. 
 
"Ultimately, I have to do a better job with this group," Schertz said. "We aren't playing with any purpose or cohesion offensively and we don't make any toughness plays and that's on me. We will get back to work this week and hopefully look more like a team on both ends of the floor on Saturday in Memphis."