AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team rolled to a 91-69 victory over St. Andrews Saturday evening in its season-opening game.

Mark Matthews led the victors with a team-best 22 points and a school-record 23 rebounds (Division II era). It was also the third-most rebounds in a Peach Belt Conference game.

Christian Nobles accounted for 21 points while Nenad Milenkovic accounted for 12 markers, all of which came from behind the three-point stripe. Henry Bolton III and Raheem Freeman contributed nine points apiece.

Nobles dished out a game-high six assists. Kevin Chuisseu swatted away a game-high three shots while rookie Robert Hill added two blocks in his collegiate debut.

For the game, USC Aiken accounted for 42.7 percent shooting, hitting 32-of-75 attempts. The squad canned 19-of-26 free throws (73.1 percent). The Pacers held a 54-35 margin on the boards against the Knights.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team trailed 5-4 in the early going, but Matthews took a pass from Bolton III and hit a jumper in the paint. Chuisseu's put-back made it an 8-5 game. With 16:47 to play in the half, Nobles buried a deep three-pointer prior to Paris Ballinger hitting a lay-up for a 13-5 margin. Matthews netted five straight points before Freeman's lay-up pushed the score to 20-5 at the 13:27 mark.

The Pacers slowly increased their lead to 31-9 on a fastbreak three-pointer from Milenkovic. The lead hovered around 18 points for much of the first half, but a pair of charity tosses from Nobles to close the period made it 53-33 at the break.

USC Aiken increased its lead to 29 after a 6-0 run, culminating with a jumper from Freeman at the 14:16 mark.

After the Knights trimmed the deficit to 16, 77-61, Nobles converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Moments later, Matthews found Milenkovic for a three-ball and an 85-63 lead with just over four minutes to play.

The Pacers cruised to the 22-point win as Faison Brock ended the game with a pair of free throws for the final margin.  

The Pacers return to action Saturday, Nov. 19, when they host Lees-McRae at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.