Pacers Race Past Jaguars In PBC Quarterfinal

Story Courtesy of Pacer Sports

AUGUSTA, Ga (03/01/2018) — The University of South Carolina Aiken raced past Augusta in the PBC Quarterfinal Wednesday evening at Christenberry Fieldhouse, 89-79.

The Pacers improve to 16-11 on the season while the Jaguars end their season at 16-13.

Paris Ballinger led the way with a career-high 23 points. He canned five-of-eight from the field and netted 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. Faison Brock garnered 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Doniel Dean accounted for 17 points and four assists. Henry Bolton III tallied 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Markus Terry chipped in 10 markers in the road win.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team netted the opening jumper at the 19:22 mark and guided the Pacers to a 13-0 lead and the squad never looked back. During the spurt, Terry nailed a three-ball and Brock took a pass from Dean for a dunk. Dean's tip-in and lay-up made it 12-0 and Dean's free throw pushed the margin to 13.

The Jaguars pulled within seven on multiple occasions in the opening stanza, but USC Aiken pushed the score to 37-23 on a lay-up by Ballinger at the 3:50 mark. However, the home squad hit a bucket with eight seconds left to cut the score to 41-32 at the break. The Jaguars made it an eight-point contest at 50-42, but Vanderslice's squad never let the home team back in the game. Brock's lay-up at the 12:11 mark pushed the score to 60-44. USC Aiken kept the margin in double figures until Augusta pulled within nine at 83-74 with just 88 seconds to play. However, Balliinger and Dean continued to hit free throws down the stretch en route to the victory.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 30-of-60 from the floor (50 percent), including seven-of-21 from the three-point stripe (33.3 percent). The squad buried 22-of-30 from the charity stripe (73.3 percent).

The Pacers return to action in the PBC Semifinals when they play at Clayton State on Saturday, March 3.

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