LAKELAND, Fla. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team held an advantage for much of the first half, but ultimately fell by a score of 96-84 at Florida Southern.

The Pacers are now 3-1 on the year while the Mocs improve to 2-5 on the year.

USC Aiken was paced by Mark Matthews' 19 points. Jalin Barnes added 14 points while Henry Bolton III and Raheem Freeman tallied 12 and 11, respectively.

Kevin Chuisseu and Rob Hill accounted for eight points apiece while Nenad Milenkovic notched seven.

Christian Nobles dished out five assists while Barnes and Bolton III posted two steals apiece.  

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team netted the first bucket of the game when Chuisseu hit a lay-up off a pass from Nobles at the 18:31 mark. Freeman converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 13:47 to go for a 13-6 lead.

An inside shot from Hill pushed the margin to 15-6. However, the Mocs cut the deficit to four on a pair of occasions and even sliced it to two at 17-15 before the Pacers quelled the run by a shot from Matthews. Chuisseu added a basket for a 21-15 edge at the 8:35 mark.

Although the margin was cut to one with 7:19 to play, Freeman countered with a jumper and Faison Brock nailed a three-ball before Hill added a shot for a 28-20 advantage. Milenkovic hit a three-pointer for a 32-22 lead with 4:51 to go. However, Florida Southern answered by closing the half on a 16-4 run. A shot with nine seconds to play gave the home team its first lead of the game, 38-36.

USC Aiken canned 46 percent of its attempts in the opening half.

The Pacers trailed 44-36 just 1:23 into the second period before Barnes hit a runner. Matthews and Barnes hit back-to-back shots, slicing the deficit to two, 44-42. A lay-up by Bolton III tied the contest at 46 apiece, forcing a time-out by the home team.

After going back-and-forth for a few minutes, Milenkovic converted a four-point play for a 57-52 advantage. A pair of free throws from Matthews with 10:45 to play put USC Aiken on top 61-59. However, the squads were tied at 61-61 and 63-63.

The Mocs scored six straight before Matthews drained a three-ball, but the home squad managed to hold onto the lead the rest of the way.

For the game, Vanderslice's team hit 32-of-72 from the floor (44 percent), but made just five-of-23 from downtown (22 percent). The squad buried 15-of-18 from the charity stripe.

The Mocs turned 14 turnovers into 24 points while the Pacers forced 16 miscues, but converted them into 14 markers. USC Aiken was out-rebounded 46-35, but held a 29-26 advantage in the paint.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they host Anderson on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.