FLORENCE, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team remained perfect in league play with a convincing 71-49 Peach Belt Conference road victory over Francis Marion on Wednesday evening at the Smith University Center.

USC Aiken (9-2, 3-0 PBC) has now won eight of its last nine games.

The story of the night was the Pacer defense. USC Aiken's defense held Francis Marion to just 36.4 percent (16-for-44) shooting in the game. The Pacers forced Francis Marion into 30 turnovers. 

The 49 points allowed by USC Aiken in the game marked the first time since a 50-46 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Quarterfinal win over Georgia College on March 13, 2010 that USC Aiken had not allowed an opponent to surpass the 50-point plateau in a game.

USC Aiken finished the win over Francis Marion shooting 42.6 percent (26-for-61) as a team.

USC Aiken opened things on Wednesday by rushing out to a 20-6 advantage over the first almost seven minutes of the game.

A deft hook shot in the paint by USC Aiken's Joel Gierbolini with 13:06 left in the first stanza garnered USC Aiken the 14-point 20-6 lead and forced Francis Marion head coach Gary Edwards to take a 30-second time out.

USC Aiken from there would not allow the Patriots to cut into its sizable lead over the course of the rest of the half with the Pacers entering intermission with a 16-point lead at 37-21.

Gierbolini ended the first half of action leading USC Aiken with 11 points. He was 5-for-6 from the floor in the first stanza. Gierbolini almost had a double-double in the first half alone as he also brought down eight caroms in the first half of action.

The Pacers commenced the second half by outscoring Francis Marion 20-10 over the first nine minutes of the second half to own a 26-point lead at 57-21.

Gierbolini (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Long Island) ended USC Aiken's 22-point win with his third double-double of the year with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He was 7-for-13 from the field in the win over the Patriots. Gierbolini also had three blocks in the game.

Three Pacers finished in double figures in total with Chase Holmes (Chesnee, S.C./Presbyterian) and Sterling Council (Camden, S.C./Camden) both posting 11 points each. Holmes also had six rebounds.

USC Aiken's Re'mon Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester) did not finish in double figures, but he did manage nine points, a career-high six steals and a game-high four assists. 

Liki Turner of Francis Marion (6-5, 2-2 PBC) led all players in the game with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

The Pacers will next play Columbus State in their first home Peach Belt Conference game of 2012. Tip-off in the match-up between the league rivals is set for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7.