FLORENCE, S.C. – The Francis Marion University men’s and women’s basketball teams will play host to Augusta State University, Wednesday evening (Jan. 23) on the school’s first-ever White Out Night and Faculty Appreciation Night.

The women’s game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Smith University Center, followed by the men’s contest at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for students.  Both games can be heard on the internet at www.fmarion.edu/sports/ with Allen Smothers handling the play-by-play.

The first 200 fans attending and wearing white will receive a free T-Shirt. Everyone attending the game is asked and encouraged to wear white.

Approximately 175 students take part in intercollegiate athletics at FMU.  For the third year, Patriot seniors have been asked to identify a faculty member that has made an impact on their lives at FMU.  These individuals will be recognized immediately following the women's game at approximately 7:25 p.m.

The faculty members selected by this year's class of seniors are: Dr. Gabriel Batarseh (Psychology/ Education), Dr. Scott Campbell (Business), Dr. Jeffrey Camper (Biology), Dr. Kenneth Crocker (Business), Dr. Fred David (Business), Mary Dittman (Business), Dr. David Franck (Business), Greg Fry (Fine Arts), Dr. Philip Fulmer (Physics), Steven Gately (Fine Arts), Glen Gourley (Fine Arts), Dr. Teresa Herzog (Psychology), Dr. John Hester (Psychology), Dr. Michael Hughes (Business), Dr. Brad R. Johnson (Business), Dr. Scott Kelly (Business), Dr. Ben Kyer (Business), Dr. Cheryl Lane (Education), Dr. Kay Lawrimore (Business), Dr. Barry O’Brien (Business), Dr. LeRoy Peterson (Chemistry), Dr. Wayne Pruitt (Education), Dr. Hari Rajagopalan (Business), Dr. Hubert Setzler (Business), Dr. Timothy Shannon (Biology), Dr. Allen Smith (Graduate Program - Business), Dr. John Sutton (English), Dr. Joel Thayer (Sociology), Ted Whisnant (English), Dr. David White (Political Science), Dr. Bill Whitmire (Mathematics), Dr. Kenneth Williams (Chemistry), and Dr. Nancy Zaice (English).

The Patriot women (11-2, 4-2) were ranked 24th last week, but dropped out of the Top 25 poll this week after a narrow six-point road loss on Saturday. FMU is tied for second among the other schools receiving votes for this week’s poll, and the Patriots are in second place in the Peach Belt Conference standings only 1.5 games behind the conference leader. The ASU women (10-4, 4-3) are tied for fourth place. The Francis Marion men are 8-5 overall and 2-4 in the PBC, while the 13th-ranked Jaguars (11-3, 6-1) are a half-game out of the conference lead.

The Hilton Garden Inn, located near the Florence Civic Center, is the sponsor for Wednesday’s twinbill.