Down by as many as 19 points on Monday night, the Tuskegee Men's Basketball team looked outmatched in the first half of their matchup against the Pacers of South Carolina-Aiken.  But, a furious rally by Leon Douglas' team allowed TU to tie the game with 1:36 remaining in regulation, before falling to USC-Aiken (6-2 overall this season) by a final score of 86-80.  The Golden Tigers end their final home game of the 2013 calendar year with a 2-5 record.

Richard Dixon had a tremendous night for the Golden Tigers, as he had a game-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting.  But, he didn't have enough key contributions from his teammates, as Elliott Dean (18 points) and Javier McKinney (14 points) were the only other Tuskegee players that managed to score in double figures.  By comparison, USC-Aiken ended up with half of their scoring players (five of nine total) in the double-digit category.  Ronald Zimmerman had 24 points, and DeVontae Wright contributed 16 as well.

Tuskegee actually outshot the Pacers for the game, as the home team shot 54.7 percent, as compared to 54.4 percent.  This shooting performance is much improved from Tuskegee's first meeting against South Carolina-Aiken on the road earlier this season, in which TU suffered their worst loss of the season by a 93-67 setback which was played Nov. 15.  In that game, the Golden Tigers shot under 41 percent from the field, primarily due to a dismal first half in which the team only shot 26.1 percent in the 20 minutes after tipoff.

Monday's first half looked similar to the untrained eye, because the Pacers were able to execute well on their long-distance shooting.  The lead hit an apex with just under 11 minutes remaining in the opening half, when Zimmerman hit one of seven three-pointers on the night to force the Golden Tigers into a 31-12 hole.  But, Tuskegee's rally began immediately, and the Pacer lead was cut down to single digits when Charles Savoy hit a layup to trim the deficit down to 37-28 with 2:31 left until halftime.  The bucket capped a 16-6 scoring run for the crimson and white.

Tuskegee will wrap up 2013 with a trip to Florida to play two road games until returning home in January.  The Golden Tigers play Eckerd Dec. 18 in St. Petersburg, before traveling to Lakeland four days later to play Florida Southern.  The home schedule resumes Jan. 4, with the biggest home game of the season, as Morehouse College returns to the James Center for the first time in three seasons.  The game will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network, and tipoff is set for 11:00 a.m.  There will also be free admission.