AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team continued its strong play en route to an 84-69 win over Georgia Southwestern Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 12-9 on the season and 9-8 in league play. The Hurricanes fall to 12-9 overall and 8-9 against conference foes.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team was led by Robert Hill's career-game with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Hill connected on nine-of-11 from the floor and shared game-best accolades in rebounds with Faison Brock.

Doniel Dean contributed 16 points – and he connected on all eight charity tosses. Austin Grimes posted 13 points and five rebounds while Markus Terry chipped in 11 points.

Dean dished out a team-best five assists, added three steals and managed to swat a pair of shots.

The contest was a back-and-forth affair for much of the first half, but Vanderslice's squad managed to gain a seven-point edge on a three-ball from Nenad Milenkovic at 33-26. The margin was stretched to 10 at 38-28 on a three-ball from Austin Grimes with 4:24 to play. USC Aiken maintained a 45-36 lead heading into the second half.

Paris Ballinger's lay-up with 14:39 to play made the score 53-38. Although USC Aiken stretched the advantage to 17, the visitors stormed back to pull within eight with 6:15 to play. However, the Pacers managed to hit key shots down the stretch – and the stretch run was highlighted by Brock's thunderous put-back dunk with 2:06 to go, giving the home squad a 78-67 lead.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 31-of-66 from the floor (47.0 percent), including seven-of-19 from the three-point stripe (36.8 percent). The team was nearly automatic from the charity stripe, hitting 15-of-17 (88.2 percent).

The Pacers return to action Monday when they host Columbus State at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.