FLORENCE, S.C. – The USCA men's basketball team's high-octane offense scored triple digits, and the squad cruised to a 110-69 victory at Francis Marion Thursday.
Seven student-athletes reached double figures in the victory.
The Pacers are now 7-3 on the season.
The 110 points marked the seventh most in the program's Division II history. The 44 made field goals were tied for the fourth most in the school's Division II history.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team was led by
Jalen McCoy's team-high 20 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Davion Cunningham was equally efficient, canning five-of-seven from the floor, including four-of-six from downtown for 15 points. He also shared game-high honors with seven rebounds.
Mason Grant converted seven-of-10 from the floor for 14 points.
Caleb Byrd and
Kaleb Siler notched 12 points apiece. Siler tied for game-high honors with seven boards.
Dwight Canady, Jr., and
Simeon German reached double figures with 10 points apiece. Canady, Jr., recorded a career-best four steals.
Rhyjon Blackwell added eight points while
Cam Perkins and
Rafael Rubel chipped in six and three, respectively. Rubel dished out a game-high six assists.
Fourteen seconds into the contest, German found Rubel for a three-ball and Vanderslice's team never looked back. German tipped in his own miss for a 5-0 edge. At the 16:18 mark, German converted a lay-up for a 10-point lead. A steal and ensuing three-point play by McCoy pushed the score to 20-4 at the 14:27 mark.
FMU pulled within 10 at 26-16, but Vanderslice's squad rattled off seven straight points, with the last three coming via Blackwell's shot from distance. Up 36-21, McCoy hit two free throws, and Byrd took a pass from Cunningham and calmly hit a shot from the three-point stripe for a 41-21 working margin. The Patriots scored four of the final six points of the half to make it 54-34 at intermission.
Leading 64-43, Cunningham drained a three-point bucket. Grant found German for a lay-up. A jumper by Siler and a shot from downtown connected on another three-point shot, giving the visitors a 74-43 advantage. However, that was just the start of the run. Vanderslice's team netted the next 10 points for a 21-0 spurt. The run propelled the team to an 85-43 advantage with 10:29 to go.
For the game, USCA buried 44-of-73 (60.3 percent) from the floor, including 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from the three-point stripe. The squad hit 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) from the charity stripe. Vanderslice's team held a 42-31 edge on the glass and never trailed.
The Pacers return to action on Jan. 1, when they host Columbia International at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
