Total Team Effort Leads USC Aiken Past Georgia Southwestern
 
AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team never trailed en route to a 77-64 victory over Georgia Southwestern Saturday evening.
 
The Pacers are now 10-4 on the season and 4-3 against conference foes. The Hurricanes fall to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in league play.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was paced by Henry Bolton III's game-high 21 points on an efficient seven-of-13 effort from the floor, including four-of six from downtown.

Mark Matthews continued his solid play with 16 points and four assists to go along with a pair of thefts. Christian Nobles hit double digits with 10 points despite playing in foul trouble for some of the night.

Jalin Barnes shared team-best honors with four assists while Kevin Chuisseu was outstanding on the glass, snagging a game-high 10. Faison Brock and Raheem Freeman contributed nine and eight points, respectively.

Matthews hit the first shot of the game and the Pacers quickly took a 4-0 lead. At 8-6, Matthews took a pass from Nobles and buried a floater in the lane. The Hurricanes tied it at 13-13 for the first time. The squads traded points until Brock and Nenad Milenkovic hit back-to-back shots for a 22-18 margin with 5:45 to play in the opening stanza.

Bolton III tallied the next three points for a 25-18 lead, but the visitors managed to pull within four on a pair of occasions. Leading 32-28, Nobles found Bolton III for a deep three-pointer with six seconds left in the first half for a seven-point edge heading into the second period.

Leading 42-38, Nobles connected on a deep jumper immediately following the first media time-out. Matthews registered a steal and ended up converting a lay-up off a pass from Barnes for a 46-38 advantage. A pair of free throws by Barnes and a lay-up by Paris Ballinger increased the margin to 12, 50-38, with 13:19 to play.

Vanderslice's team continued the spurt when Freeman converted an old-fashioned three-point play. On the ensuing possession, Freeman took a pass from Bolton III and drilled another three-ball for a 56-38 cushion. The lead ballooned to 22 after four straight points from Brock.

Although the Hurricanes pulled within 15 with 5:27 to play, Freeman, Matthews and Bolton III converted back-to-back-to-back shots for a 74-53 margin with 3:37 to play.

For the game, USC Aiken held a 26-7 edge in points off turnovers and a 12-8 margin in second-chance points. The bench was spectacular, outscoring the Hurricanes 24-8. The squad also maintained a 36-28 advantage in the paint and raced to a 17-4 lead in fast break points. 

The Pacers connected on 28-of-63 shots from the floor (44.4 percent), including seven-of-26 from downtown. USC Aiken connected on 14 foul shots.
 
The Pacers return to action Saturday when they host Montevallo at 3:30 p.m. Live stats an video will be available at PacerSports.com.