FLORENCE, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team broke open a close game with a strong second half en route to an 89-71 victory at Francis Marion Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 15-6 overall, including a 9-5 mark in league play. The Patriots fall to 8-14 overall and 4-10 against conference competition.

Mark Matthews led five USC Aiken student-athletes in double figures with a game-high 19 points on seven-of-12 shooting. For good measure, Matthews snagged six rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Christian Nobles accounted for 18 points and a game-high eight assists in 28 minutes of work. Jalin Barnes netted eight of his 14 points in the first half while Austin Grimes and Henry Bolton III posted 12 and 10 points, respectively. Bolton III accounted for six rebounds and five assists.

Rookie Robert Hill almost garnered a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

In similar fashion to when the teams played in Aiken, S.C., the Pacers started off strong. A jumper by Paris Ballinger gave the visitors a 15-7 edge just 5:34 into the game. However, the Patriots would keep it close for much of the first half. Then, Bolton III sliced through the defense for a lay-up to push the score to 31-24. After forcing a turnover, Bolton III took a pass from Raheem Freeman and drained a shot from behind the three-point arc for a 10-point margin.

FMU would trim the deficit to just five at the break, 38-33.

The Patriots started the second half strong and took a 47-46 lead with 17:31 to play. Nobles found Matthews for a three-ball to regain the advantage for USC Aiken.

Trailing 62-60, Matthews hit back-to-back three-point shots before Nobles got into the act from downtown, giving the Pacers a 68-60 advantage with 8:38 to go.

The home squad pulled within five at 70-65, but Matthews converted a lay-up and Nobles made two charity tosses, extending the margin to nine at 74-65.

Grimes hit a lay-up and Nobles followed it up with an old-fashioned three-point play for a 14-point lead with 3:00 to play. USC Aiken was not threatened the rest of the game.

Collectively, the team buried 32-of-65 shots from the floor (49.2 percent), including nine-of-24 from downtown (37.5 percent). Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team hit 16-of-25 from the charity stripe (64 percent).

For the game, USC Aiken had 26 points off miscues compared to 16 by the home team. Vanderslice's squad dominated the paint, 44-32.

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