FLORENCE, SC – Reigning Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Tyrekus Bowman scored 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked four shots and 13th-ranked Augusta State University withstood a late Francis Marion University rally to claim a 77-68 conference win, Wednesday night (Jan. 23) in men’s action.
Junior guard Houston Power led Francis Marion with 13 points and junior 6-7 center Kevin Clark added 12 points, but the Patriots (8-6, 2-5) suffered their fourth loss in the past five games.
Following Bowman for the Jaguars (12-3, 7-1), who remain a half-game behind conference leading USC Aiken, was sophomore swingman Ben Madgen with 14 points and reserve guard Demetrius Howard with 12.
ASU led the entire game after Bowman hit a three-pointer and added a steal and dunk to give the Jaguars a 5-0 start. A dunk and a layup by 6-11 center Garret Siler pushed the margin to 9-0 before the Patriots dented the scoreboard on a Rodrick Burton jumper at the 16:12 mark. Augusta State would lead by as many as 16 before settling for a 43-29 halftime advantage. The Jaguars shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while holding FMU to 34.4 percent.
The margin was 15 points, at 52-37 with 15:16 left, following a pair of Siler free throws, when Francis Marion gradually worked itself back into the game. An 11-2 spurt by FMU, sparked by a pair of three-pointers from 5-7 point guard Cortne’ Baker, cut the deficit to 54-48. A layup by Power with 7:18 remaining further trimmed the lead to 61-57. Following a free throw by ASU’s Steve Smith, Francis Marion had four chances to cut the margin to two or three, but missed a pair of three-pointers and committed two turnovers.
Two charity tosses by Bowman and a layup by FMU’s Baker left the margin still at five points with 4:32 remaining. The Patriots again had a chance to get to within three, but Bowman blocked a layup by Francis Marion’s Ziyadah Carter and the Jaguars quickly scored seven straight points to go up 71-59.
Francis Marion was whistled for 32 fouls leading to a 25-7 ASU advantage at the free throw line.
The Patriots did make nine three-pointers in 27 attempts for 33.3 percent.
Francis Marion plays at Clayton State University on Saturday at 2 p.m., while ASU travels to Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
1-23-08 8:10 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
#13 AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY 77, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 68
AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY (#13 12-3 , 7-1)
Bowman, Tyrekus 10-14 6-8 28; Madgen, Ben 4-9 6-7 14; Howard, Demetrius 3-8
4-4 12; Siler, Garret 3-4 5-10 11; Smith, Steve 3-5 3-5 11; Brown, Caleb 0-0
1-4 1; Killeen, Jason 0-1 0-0 0; Dixon, Daniel 0-3 0-0 0; Tambon, Luke 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 23-45 25-38 77.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (8-6 , 2-5 PBC)
Power, Houston 5-12 3-4 13; Clark, Kevin 4-6 0-0 12; Baker, Cortne' 3-5 1-2
9; Burton, Rodrick 4-7 0-1 8; Morley, Nate 3-3 0-0 7; Smith, Sam 2-6 3-4 7;
Carter, Ziyadah 2-8 0-0 5; Stiglbauer, Carter 2-4 0-0 4; Laney, Michael 1-3
0-0 3; Turner, David 0-5 0-0 0; Boyd, Simel 0-0 0-0 0; Jones, Crayton 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 26-61 7-11 68.
Halftime: Augusta State 43 Francis Marion 29.
3-point goals-Augusta State University 6-19 (Howard, Demetrius 2-6; Smith,
Steve 2-3; Bowman, Tyrekus 2-5; Dixon, Daniel 0-2; Madgen, Ben 0-3), Francis
Marion University 9-27 (Clark, Kevin 4-5; Baker, Cortne' 2-4; Carter,
Ziyadah 1-3; Laney, Michael 1-3; Morley, Nate 1-1; Turner, David 0-4;
Stiglbauer, Carter 0-1; Burton, Rodrick 0-2; Power, Houston 0-4). Fouled
out--Augusta State University-None, Francis Marion University-Clark, Kevin.
Rebounds-Augusta State University 37 (Bowman, Tyrekus 12), Francis Marion
University 26 (Burton, Rodrick 4). Assists-Augusta State University 13
(Howard, Demetrius 4), Francis Marion University 18 (Baker, Cortne' 5).
Total fouls-Augusta State University 16, Francis Marion University 32. A-917
Men's Sports
