MARS HILL, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team held Mars Hill scoreless for almost five minutes in the first half and then never looked back in a 96-72 victory over the Lions in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday evening at Stanford Arena.

USC Aiken (2-1) finished its resounding victory over Mars Hill (1-4) shooting 57.4 percent (39-of-68) as a team. The Pacers held the Lions to 46.2 percent (24-for-52) shooting as a team in the contest.

The Pacers had 11 different players score with four collecting double figures.

Re'mon Nelson led the way for USC Aiken in the game, scoring a season-high 20. He was 9-for-16 from the field in the game.

Joel Gierbolini (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Long Island) picked up his second double-double of the year in the contest with 18 points and 14 boards. Gierbolini only missed one shot attempt on Tuesday evening, going 8-for-9 from the floor. He also had three blocks in the Pacer win.

Terrance Dent was 5-for-6 from the field en route to 14 points. He claimed 12 of his 14 points from beyond the arc.

Ronald Zimmerman was the final Pacer in double figures in the game, collecting 14. Zimmerman claimed 11 of his 14 points in the first half.

Sammy Emile led three Mars Hill players in double figures with a game-high 19 points.

Mars Hill did not miss a shot as a team until almost four and a half minutes into the contest. The strong start helped the Lions own an 11-7 lead with 15:24 remaining in the first half.

The Pacers would take over from there.

USC Aiken would take its first lead of the game just over a minute later when Zimmerman (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Pacers a 12-11 advantage. The lead would be four for the Pacers shortly thereafter as Jesse Seilern (Innsbruck, Austria/Kapfenberg) knocked down a 3-pointer of his own from the left corner to garner USC Aiken a 15-11 lead with 13:21 remaining in the first stanza.

USC Aiken would eventually go on to hold the Lions scoreless for just over five minutes. USC Aiken's 19-0 run allowed the Pacers to take a 15-point 26-11 lead with 10:36 left in the first half.

Mars Hill would get as close as four points over the next eight minutes, but USC Aiken would still own a double-digit lead with under two minutes to play in the first half of action at 47-34.

The two teams entered intermission with USC Aiken owning a 47-36 lead.

The Pacers finished the first half shooting 55.6 percent (20-of-36). They knocked down six of their 12 3-point attempts (50 percent) in the first half.

USC Aiken forced Mars Hill into 10 turnovers in the first half. The Pacers turned the basketball over just three times in the first stanza.

Dent (Laramie, Wy./Laramie CC) and the Pacers came out firing in the second half with Dent knocking down two consecutive 3-pointers to extend the Pacer lead to 15 points with 18:02 left on the game clock.

By the first media time out of the second half the Pacer lead had ballooned to 19 points at 59-40. The Pacers outscored the Lions 12-4 in the first four and a half minutes of the second frame. A Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester) lay-up shortly after the media time out break pushed the Pacer lead past 20 points for the first time at 61-40.

USC Aiken would go up by as many as 26 down the stretch before settling on the 24-point victory.

USC Aiken's game with Mars Hill is its final in the month of November.

The Pacers will next play six of their seven games in the month of December inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center.

The first foe for the Pacers in the month will be Allen at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1. USC Aiken is 12-0 all-time against Allen.