Pacers Open Exhibition Season Convincingly With 34-Point Win Over SWU
AIKEN, S.C. - Casey McMasters only missed one shot en route to a game-high 25 points in USC Aiken's dominating 92-58 exhibition victory before a crowd of 1,326 on Thursday evening at the Convocation Center.
McMasters (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) in total was 8-for-9 from the floor in the game. He scored the majority of his points in the first half with 23 of his 25 points on the evening coming in the stanza.
The three-point specialist was particularly deadly from beyond the arc where he was 6-for-7 in the Pacer win. McMasters was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
USC Aiken as a team concluded the contest shooting 54.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Pacers connected on 17 of their 31 attempts in the game.
Mark Brown (Charlotte, N.C./Hickory Grove Christian) was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range, while freshman Ronald Zimmerman (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) was 3-for-6. Brown also connected on a free throw in the second half to acquire the rare four-point play as he was fouled making the final of his three 3-pointers in the game. Brown calmly knocked down the free throw to finish as one of three Pacers in double figures.
Freshman point guard Re'mon Nelson (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) in many ways stole the show in USC Aiken's exhibition victory. Nelson thrilled those in attendance at the Convocation Center by trying to post a triple-double in his first outing as a Pacer.
Nelson guided the Pacer offensive attack in the resounding win with nine assists. The 5-foot-9 Nelson also corralled seven rebounds in addition to his nine dimes. He finished his evening with 14 total points as he was 5-for-13 from the field.
The Pacers in total shot 41.8 percent (33-for-79) from the field. In turn, the Pacer defense held the Southern Wesleyan offense to a 33.9 percent (21-for-62) shooting performance. The Warriors shot just 22.7 percent (5-for-22) from beyond the arc.
USC Aiken took advantage of the Warriors' 21 turnovers in the game by scoring 24 points off the Southern Wesleyan miscues.
USC Aiken scored most of its points in the contest outside of the paint, but the Pacers were able to still procure 30 points in the paint. Southern Wesleyan scored 30 of its 58 points in the game in the paint.
The Warriors finished their efforts on Thursday evening with three players in double figures as Nikola Lambic (11), Brandon Jankowy (10) and Nathan Wilson (15) all scoring in double digits. Wilson was 6-for-8 from the field in the contest.
Two days from now, USC Aiken will play an exhibition game against the College of Charleston at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 from Carolina First Arena. The game against the Cougars is the second game of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader at Carolina First Arena with the Pacer women slated to take on the College of Charleston women immediately following the men's tilt at approximately 7 p.m.
