AUGUSTA, Ga.--Sixth-ranked and top-seeded Kennesaw State (27-4) had five players in double figures with eight more scratching the scoring column in proving too much for the USC Aiken Pacers (11-18) 96-61 in Friday night's Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game at the Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The Owls, who won the regular season conference championship with a perfect 16-0 mark, picked up their 18th consecutive win and advanced to Saturday's second semifinal game versus Clayton State. USCA closed out its season after advancing to the program's fifth quarterfinal appearance in the last seven seasons under head coach Mike Roberts. 

"They're the third best team in the state [Georgia] this year," said Roberts in the post-game press conference. "The [Atlanta] Hawks are having a bad year, [Georgia] Tech's pretty good. They [Kennesaw State] play that hard. They had some horses out there. We weren't finding many gaps out there."

KSU scored the first seven points of the game including a slam dunk off the opening tip four seconds in by last year's PBC Player of the Year Terrence Hill. He finished with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes of action. 

The Owls increased their lead to 28-13 on a Hill jumper at 11:07 of the opening stanza. The Pacers countered with a trey by Lee Burton less than two minutes later to reduce the margin to 12, but following two Pacer missed shots, KSU pushed the lead back out to 39-20 on a Georgy Joseph dunk at 4:02. The Owls led at the break 47-30. 

Burton connected on 5-of-16 from the field including 4-of-9 from deep and 11-of-12 at the stripe to lead the Pacers with 25 points in his final game in a USCA uniform. Minda Statkus added 17 points. 

Seniors Bryant Latimer, Todd Williams, Leroy Williams, Jamall Gray, Martynas Valaitis, and Mira Jonuska also all finished their careers at USC Aiken. 

Rey Luque and Justin Thompson each poured in 14 to lead KSU in scoring while Tommy Thompson and Cardale Talley each chipped in 12. 

A taller, faster, deeper Kennesaw State exploited the Pacers in the paint for a two-to-one margin of 24-12 in the first half and finished 44-16 for the game. The Owls also held a 34-14 edge in points off turnovers and a dominating 50-26 rebounding advantage. 

"Their defense is tough; they're long and athletic," said Burton. "Rey Luque and [Terrence] Hill, at 6-5, they get out and run. It's difficult to match-up against those guys." 

USC Aiken opened the second half with a 9-2 run keyed by five points from Statkus to draw within 49-39 with 18:18 remaining, but a 33-9 run capped by a Tobias Seldon three-point play at 6:04 made it 82-48 and put the game out of reach. 

"Any credit we get should go to our defense," said KSU head coach Tony Ingle. "We settled down a little bit, not a whole lot, but enough for everything to come together."

SCORING:
(N4) USC Aiken (61): Lee Burton 25, Minda Statkus 17, Bryant Latimer 7, Curt Triplin 4, Trent Boyd 3, Mira Jonuska 3, Leroy Williams 2