RALEIGH, N.C. - William Peace men's basketball dropped its third straight conference contest on Saturday afternoon, falling 81-66 to Southern Virginia University inside the Hermann Athletic Center. The loss moves the Pacers to 6-8 overall and 0-3 in USA South play.

Southern Virginia jumped out to a fast start with efficient shooting to build a 44-23 lead at halftime. Peace responded with a much stronger second half effort, outscoring the Knights 43-37 over the final 20 minutes, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.

Despite the result, the afternoon featured several notable performances and program milestones. Elijah Cathcart turned in a career night, scoring a career-high 20 points while knocking down four three-pointers and finishing 7-of-11 from the field. His scoring spark helped spark the Pacers' second half comeback.

Shawn Jones marked his name into the program record books, recording two blocks to break the William Peace all-time blocks record. Jones entered the game tied with Trey Bryant at 66 career blocks and now stands alone at the top with 68. Jones finished the afternoon with 10 points, three rebounds, and two blocks. He now has 17 blocks on the season and sits eight shy of breaking the single-season blocks record, also held by Bryant at 24.

Southern Virginia was led by DJ Green, who scored a game-high 25 points, while Tillman Johnson and Hyrum McConkie added 16 points apiece.

William Peace will look to regroup as they'll hit the road for two more conference games this week with Methodist on Wednesday and Brevard on Saturday.