Mary Baldwin raced out to a 23-point halftime lead and then withstood a barrage of second-half 3-pointers to defeat William Peace, 93-79, in USA South Athletic Conference action Monday night.

The Fighting Squirrels lit up the Pacers' defense in the first 20 minutes, making 20-of-30 shots from the field to lead 46-23 at the break.

William Peace made 11-of-22 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half and trimmed the deficit to 12 points, 73-61, with 7:53 remaining, but that was as close as the Pacers woukd get until they pulled to within 11 points with 1:20 left in the game.

The Squirrels were able to withstand the Pacers long-range shooting by putting together another hot-shooting half at their offensive end. After shooting 66.7 percent in the first half, MBU made 14-of-22 shots in the second half, a 63.6 percent shooting rate.

Five Squirrels scored in double digits, led by Tyler Thomas' 22 points. Brett Asbury gave MBU a big boost off the bench with 17 points. Quentin Hart added 14 points, followed by Brandon Stoudamire with 12 and Vernon Fraley with 11.

MBU is now 3-8 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The team is back in action Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. when the Squirrels host Greensboro.