FLORENCE, SC - Junior forwards Ziyadah Carter and Sam Smith tallied 15 and 10 points respectively to lead Francis Marion University to a 60-48 victory over Erskine College, Wednesday night (Jan. 2) in non-conference men's basketball action.

The Patriots open the New Year with a win in their first action in 18 days and improve to 6-2.  FMU will jump back into Peach Belt Conference action on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest against visiting Georgia Southwestern State University.

Francis Marion, which made all 11 of its free throw attempts in its last game against Florida Christian College, was again perfect from the stripe at 12-of-12.  Wednesday’s performance was the second-best showing in team history, and the first time the Patriots have been perfect in back-to-back contests.

Sophomore swingman Brandon Wright led Erskine (3-4) with 19 points, all coming in the final half.  He also grabbed six rebounds.  Junior center James Fraley added 10 points and six rebounds off the Flying Fleet bench.

After leading 27-20 at halftime, Francis Marion opened a 47-30 advantage following a fast-break dunk by Carter with 9:50 remaining.  Wright then heated up, and following a trio of three-pointers by the Goose Creek native, Erskine pulled to within 49-39.  Wright’s sixth and final three-pointer came with 3:05 remaining and again pulled Erskine to within 10 points (58-48). 

However, the only scoring over the final three minutes was a pair of free throws by Smith.

Carter led FMU with six rebounds while also blocking three shots.