Box Score FLORENCE, S.C. – Eighth-year head men's basketball coach Vince Alexander became the all-time wins leader in USC Aiken men's basketball history in the Pacers' 108-79 Peach Belt Conference victory over Francis Marion at the Smith University Center on Monday evening.
The win was Alexander's 130th at the helm of the Pacer men's basketball program. He surpassed Larry Epperley (1987-97), who ended his career with 129 wins, for the most wins in program history.
Alexander is now 130-87 as the Pacer mentor. He is 219-151 in 14 years as a head coach overall.
Alexander's record-setting win came emphatically as the Pacers held the nation's No. 1 scoring offense to just 79 total points. Francis Marion (4-3, 0-2 PBC) had entered the game averaging 113 points per game.
The Pacer offense in turn exploded for 108 points. The 108 points marked the first time the Pacers had scored over 100 in a game since downing Francis Marion, 105-98, in double overtime at the Convocation Center on Feb. 22, 2012.
The win was the third straight for the Pacers.
USC Aiken (5-2, 2-0 PBC) had three players score over 20 points with both Santoine Butler (Augusta, Ga./Gardner-Webb) and Paul Larsen (Mooresville, N.C./Mercer) setting career-highs.
Scintillating Santoine used a vast array of explosive dunks and strong play underneath to finish his efforts with 27 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. He was 10-for-14 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the game.
Larsen finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds to claim a double-double in the Pacer win. He was 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-11 from the free throw line. He also had two assists and one steal.
The national leader in 3-pointers made per game, Ronald Zimmerman (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley HS) was the final Pacer with over 20 points in the contest. He hit 6 3-pointers en route to 22 points. He also had three assists and one steal.
In total, four Pacers finished in double figures with Re'mon Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester HS) claiming a double-double of his own with 14 points and 10 assists. He also had seven rebounds and one steal. Nelson was 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the Pacer win.
Evrik Gary was the top performer for the Patriots in their loss to USC Aiken with 18 points. He was one of three Francis Marion players in double figures.
The Pacers commenced the game by racing out to a 25-18 lead over the first nine and a half minutes of the contest. Just under nine minutes later, USC Aiken had extended its lead to 14 points at 41-27.
USC Aiken would enter halftime clinging to a 63-56 lead.
The 63 points recorded by the Pacers in the first half were the most in any half so far in the 2012-13 season.
USC Aiken opened the second half by going on a 6-0 spurt over the first four minutes of the half to own a 69-56 lead. By the second media time out of the second half at the 9:22 mark the Pacers had pushed their lead to 16 points at 83-67.
The Pacers would continue their offensive assault down the stretch before emerging with the 29-point victory.
USC Aiken closed out the win over Francis Marion shooting 48.6 percent (34-for-70) as a team. The Pacers hit upon 82.1 percent (32-for-39) of their free throw attempts in the game.
Francis Marion ended its evening shooting 34.5 percent (29-for-84) as a team. The Patriots connected on 81.8 percent (9-for-11) of their free throw attempts.
USC Aiken will next welcome CSRA foe Paine (2-2) to the Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19. USC Aiken enters the contest against Paine having won a program-record 19 straight regular-season home games.
