Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Senior guard Mike Buglione came off the Francis Marion (15-1, 5-0 PBC) bench to connect on 5-of-6 first-half three-point attempts as the 17th ranked Patriots rolled past USC Aiken (7-9, 1-4 PBC) 94-63 in men's Peach Belt Conference basketball on Wednesday night at "The Courthouse". FMU knocked off the Pacers for the fourth-straight time. 

Randy Williams opened the game with the hot hand for FMU scoring the team's first eight points as the Patriots built an early 18-10 lead with 12:48 remaining. On the next possession, however, USC Aiken got a three-pointer from Curt Triplin followed by a Minda Statkus bucket in the paint to shave the margin to 18-15 with 12:08 left. 

Statkus scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench for USCA. Triplin added seven points and six boards. 

The 6-3 Buglione entered the game and proceeded to drain three-straight treys to balloon the lead to 27-15 at 10:08. Following two jumpers by Louis McCullough, Buglione drained two more triples to make it a 37-17 advantage with 3:45 left in the half. 

Buglione finished with 22 points in 19 minutes on 6-of-9 from behind the arc. McCullough added 15 points while Williams chipped in 14 points and eight boards. 

Over the 19-2 Francis Marion run, USC Aiken was held scoreless for more than six minutes until Bryant Latimer's jumper at the 5:45 mark. Latimer finished with nine points. Fellow backcourt mate Lee Burton added 13 points and six rebounds. 

Trailing 49-25 to open the half, USCA narrowed the lead to 53-33 on Burton's jumper with 17:38 remaining, but then went cold from the field. Trent Boyd's three-pointer over seven minutes later represented the Pacers next made field goal with the score 71-40 in favor of the Patriots. 

McCullough's dunk with 8:45 to play gave FMU its largest lead of the game 78-42. Statkus scored 14 of the team's final 21 points over the closing eight minutes to set the final margin at 94-63. 

USC Aiken shot 31.3 percent from the field (21-of-67), 30.0 percent from the three-point line (6-of-20), and 78.9 percent at the stripe. 

Francis Marion, behind a blazing 20-of-31 shooting performance in the first-half, finished 34-of-62 for the game (54.8 percent), 12-of-21 from deep (57.1 percent), and 14-of-24 at the line (58.3 percent). FMU out rebounded the Pacers 50-34, but USC Aiken committed just eight turnovers to the Patriots' 14. 

USC Aiken travels to Milledgeville, Ga. on Saturday, January 24 to face Georgia College & State University at 7:30 PM. Francis Marion returns home to Florence to host North Florida also on Saturday at 4:00 PM. 

SCORING:
Francis Marion (94): Mike Buglione 22, Louis McCullough 15, Randy Williams 14, David Hawkins 9, George Walker 9, Peter Vujovic 7, Jaquan Bracey 7, Artis Lee 5, Jarron Hinton 3, Andrew Snipe 2, Courtney Lilliston 1

USC Aiken (63): Minda Statkus 18, Lee Burton 13, Bryant Latimer 9, Curt Triplin 7, Trent Boyd 6, Todd Williams 6, Leroy Williams 2, Jamall Gray 1, Will Spencer 1.