Box Score ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The University of South Carolina
Aiken men's basketball team garnered the Peach Belt Conference
men's basketball championship outright with a 71-53 victory over
Flagler at Flagler Gymnasium.
The Peach Belt Conference championship is the second in the last
five years for the Pacers, who also collected the league
regular-season championship in the 2007-08 season.
USC Aiken's men's basketball program has now claimed three PBC
regular-season championships in the history of the program
(1992-93, 2007-08 and 2011-12).
The Pacer men conclude their regular season with a 20-6 overall
record. The Pacers, who were tabbed to finish sixth in the Peach
Belt Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll, were 14-4 in Peach
Belt Conference play in the 2011-12 regular season.
USC Aiken's 20th win of the year on Saturday means
that USC Aiken has now obtained a 20-win campaign in four of the
last five years.
Four Pacers finished in double figures in the win over Flagler
with Joel
Gierbolini (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Long Island) leading the way
with 14 points.
Ronald
Zimmerman (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) knocked down three
3-pointers en route to his 13 points, while Sterling Council
(Camden, S.C./Camden) concluded his impressive week with 12 points.
Council also had five assists in the game.
Chase
Holmes (Chesnee, S.C./Presbyterian) was the final Pacer in
double figures with 10 points.
Ryan Barnes led Flagler in its loss with 16 points.
USC Aiken concluded its win shooting 48.1 percent (25-for-52) as
a team. Flagler shot 39.2 percent (20-for-51) as a team.
USC Aiken opened the game by racing out to a 22-12 lead with
just under seven minutes to play in the first stanza.
The Pacers would enter the halftime break still clinging to the
10-point advantage at 35-25.
USC Aiken would keep its lead in double digits for all of the
second half en route to its 18-point win.
The Pacers will enter the upcoming Peach Belt Conference
Basketball Tournament in Columbus, Ga. as the No. 1 seed in the PBC
East.
The Pacers will play PBC West No. 4 Clayton State at 5 p.m. on
Friday, March 2.
For more information on the PBC Tournament, please visit the
official tournament website at: http://www.peachbeltconference.org/information/12bbtournament/index
