YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | The Young Harris College men's basketball team pulled away from the University of South Carolina Aiken in the second half as the Mountain Lions captured their Peach Belt Conference opener over the Pacers 96-70 Saturday (Dec. 17) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Mountain Lions improved to 7-3 overall and to 1-0 inside the league, while the Pacers slipped to 6-2 and 0-1. Young Harris plays its final game of 2016 when they hosts Francis Marion University in a 2 p.m. PBC contest Monday (Dec. 19).

C.J. Wilson led Young Harris with 23 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Ben Waterhouse added 19 points and six rebounds. Bjorn Walker posted a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while J.B. Charles tallied 13 points. Corey Nelson nearly had a double double for the Mountain Lions with nine points and eight rebounds.

"It was a really good win on the defensive end, especially in the second half," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "USC Aiken has been scoring a lot and we were pretty relentless defensively. They have a lot of players capable of scoring and we did a good job defending."

The game was fairly tight over the opening 20 minutes with Young Harris holding a 46-39 lead at the half. After the Pacers cut the lead down to five points (52-47) with 17:30 remaining, the Mountain Lions used a 15-2 run over the next three minutes to open up a 67-49 lead on a Walker free throw with 14:17 to go. Young Harris, which limited the Pacers to 27.5 percent shooting (11-of-40) in the second half, continued to extend the lead, taking a 89-59 lead after Wilson hit four free throws with 5:31 to play. 

The Mountain Lions held a 55-39 advantage in rebounding and hit 19 more free throws than the Pacers. 

Christian Nobles led the Pacers with 25 points and seven rebounds, with Henry Bolton III (13) and Jalin Barnes (10) also finishing in double figures.