ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team overcame a four-point deficit in the closing minutes while Mark Matthews hit the game-winner for a 72-70 victory at Flagler Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers are now 14-5 overall, including an 8-4 record in league play. The Saints fall to 8-10 on the year and 2-9 against conference foes.  

Matthews paced head coach Mark Vanderslice's team with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He also snagged five boards and dished out three assists. Jalin Barnes tallied 17 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists – with none being bigger than the one to Matthews in the waning seconds.

Henry Bolton III tallied 14 points and four rebounds while Christian Nobles chipped in eight points and three assists. Robert Hill accounted for seven points and three blocks. Kevin Chuisseu notched four points and nine boards to go along with a pair of steals in the win.

Chuisseu gave USC Aiken a 7-2 lead on a lay-up at the 16:57 mark off a pass from Bolton III. The Pacers extended their lead to 10, 27-17, when Raheem Freeman found Barnes for a three-point shot with 10:28 to play in the first half. A lay-up by Hill off an offensive rebound pushed the advantage to 12 points, marking the biggest lead of the game by the visitors.

A 23-9 run by the Saints propelled the home team to a 42-40 halftime lead.

After falling behind 50-45, Nobles canned a jumper off a pass from Faison Brock. Hill found Bolton III for a twisting shot to pull within one with 13:59 to play. Barnes snagged a rebound and found the bottom of the net for a one-point edge 32 seconds later. Two minutes later, Barnes hit another shot in the paint for a 53-50 lead.

Vanderslice's team went up by eight after Austin Grimes found Barnes for a shot from downtown with 9:23 to play.

The visitors saw the 66-63 lead diminish as Flagler went on a 7-0 spurt in less than two minutes of action for a 70-66 advantage with 3:58 on the clock.

Matthews found Nobles for a lay-up with 1:54 to go. With 42 seconds to play, Matthews converted a lay-up, knotting the contest at 70-70.

Nobles came up with a huge steal as 28 seconds remained on the clock. The Saints had a pair of fouls to give and used both – the last of which came with 11 seconds to play.

Barnes received the ensuing pass from the baseline near midcourt. He worked his way to the top of the key and looked for a shot. He went up and found Matthews under the basket. Barnes rocketed the pass down low and Matthews hit the game-winner with one second remaining. Flagler quickly threw the ball in, but could not get a shot off, securing the win for the Pacers.  

For the game, USC Aiken hit 31-of-73 from the floor (42.5 percent), including eight-of-29 from downtown (27.6 percent). The Pacers out-rebounded the Saints 45-34, including a 19-9 advantage on the offensive glass.

The squad dished out 19 assists and forced 14 turnovers. USC Aiken netted eight steals and converted the 14 turnovers into 18 points. Vanderslice's team dominated in the paint, outscoring the home team 36-18 and also held a 17-11 margin in second chance points.

The Pacers return to action Monday when they travel to Augusta for a 7:30 p.m., start. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.