ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Ronald Zimmerman knocked down a career-best eight 3-pointers and the University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team bested Flagler, 85-68, in Peach Belt Conference action on Thursday evening at the Flagler Gymnasium. 

The victory allows USC Aiken (16-6, 12-3 PBC) to take a two and a half game lead over Armstrong (13-8, 9-5 PBC) and UNC Pembroke (16-8, 9-5 PBC) in the Peach Belt Conference East Division. 

The Pacers after their win over Flagler (10-12, 6-9 PBC) Thursday and with only three losses in league play continue to own the overall lead for the Peach Belt Conference regular-season crown over West Division foes Montevallo (15-8, 11-5 PBC) and Young Harris (15-7, 10-5 PBC). 

USC Aiken opened the first two minutes of the game by scoring eight of the first 12 points. Paul Larsen (Mooresville, N.C./Mercer) claimed six of the eight points for USC Aiken.

After two 3-pointers from Zimmerman (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley HS) over the course of the next two minutes, the USC Aiken lead was 10 points at 14-4. 

USC Aiken would eventually enter the halftime break owning a 17-point advantage at 45-28.

Flagler would get as close as seven in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Pacers would keep their lead in double figures for the majority of the rest of the game in their eventual 17-point victory. The Pacers led by as many as 22 points in the second half.

The national leader in 3-pointers made per game, Zimmerman's eight treys in the road win over Flagler allowed him to finish with a game-best 25 points. He also knocked down one free throw.

Zimmerman was a lethal 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the Pacer victory. He also claimed five rebounds and four assists to go along with his 25 points.

Four Pacers finished in double figures in total with Larsen finishing just behind Zimmerman with 21 points. Larsen also collected a game-best 10 rebounds to acquire his team-leading ninth double-double. He has now procured double-digit rebounds in nine of USC Aiken's last 10 games. 

Larsen also had three steals and two assists in the Pacer victory over Flagler. 

Buoyed by his normal assault on the rim, Santoine Butler (Augusta, Ga./Gardner-Webb) ended USC Aiken's victory with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. He was 8-for-11 from the field in the game.

The final Pacer in double figures was Jesse Seilern (Innsbruck, Austria/Kapfenberg HS), who ended his evening with 12 points, four assists and one rebound. He was 5-of-7 from the floor in the game.

The foursome of Pacers in double figures accounted for 75 of USC Aiken's 85 points in the game. Seven Pacers scored in the contest in total. 

Re'mon Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester HS) did not score in the Pacer win, but the Pacer point guard did dish out a game-best 11 assists to go along with his three steals and three rebounds. 

Four Saints finished in double figures in the Pacer victory with Ryan Barnes leading the way with 14 points. 

USC Aiken closed out its win over Flagler shooting 50.7 percent (34-for-67) from the field as a team. The Pacers knocked down a scorching 52.2 percent (12-for-23) of their 3-point attempts as a team in the game. 

Flagler also shot well from the floor as a team with the Saints hitting 50 percent (27-for-54) of their shots. Flagler could only manage to knock down 31.6 percent (6-of-19) of their 3-point attempts as a team. 

USC Aiken ended its win with a decisive victory on the boards with the Pacers out-rebounding Flagler, 37-27. The Pacers held a 15-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. 

The USC Aiken men's basketball team will next return home for its Homecoming contest against Lander on Saturday, Feb. 16. Tip-off at the Convocation Center is slated for 7:30 p.m.