No. 8 ASU Men hold off Francis Marion 71-61
AUGUSTA, GA – Eighth-ranked Augusta State University shot 65.2 percent from the field in the first half Wednesday night (Feb. 20) and then cruised to a 71-61 Peach Belt Conference victory over Francis Marion University in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
FMU sees it two-game winning streak end as the Patriots fall to 10-14 overall and 4-13 in the PBC. The win was the seventh straight for the Jaguars, who improved to 20-4 and 15-2. With the victory, ASU has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons and has recorded 20 or more wins in four of the last eight seasons.
Junior forward Sam Smith led FMU with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds, while Nate Morley, Simel Boyd and Houston Power tallied 14, 12 and 11 points respectively.
Junior center Jason Killeen came off the bench to pace ASU with a career-high 12 points, connecting on 3-of-5 field-goal attempts and 6-of-8 free throws. Junior center Garret Siler and sophomore guard Daniel Dixon tallied 11 points each, while AJ Bowman and Demetrius Howard chipped in 10 each. Bowman moved into fifth place on the ASU career scoring list with 1,603 points.
ASU jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never trailed. The Patriots fought back, forcing ties at 9-9 and 12-12 before the Jags closed the first half on a 26-7 run. ASU led by as much as 22 in the second half following a pair of free throws from Jamie Quarles at the 13:34 mark.
FMU wouldn’t go away, shooting 56.7 percent in the second half and connecting on five treys over the final 12 minutes to stay in the game. All of Morley’s 14 points came in the final 17 minutes.
FMU committed a season-low seven turnovers while the Jags committed only eight, but did set a season-high in blocked shots with 11 – seven by Bowman and Siler.
Francis Marion plays host to Georgia College & State University on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
2-20-08 8 pm at Augusta, Ga. (Christenberry Fieldhouse)
#8 AUGUSTA STATE 71, FRANCIS MARION 61
FRANCIS MARION (10-14, 4-13 PBC)
Smith, Sam 7-14 2-2 17; Morley, Nate 5-10 0-0 14; Boyd, Simel 6-10 0-0 12;
Power, Houston 4-6 0-1 11; Turner, David 1-1 0-0 3; Burton, Rodrick 1-4 0-0
2; Clark, Kevin 1-9 0-0 2; Stiglbauer, Carter 0-3 0-0 0; Laney, Michael 0-3
0-0 0; Jones, Crayton 0-3 0-0 0; Baker, Cortne' 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 2-3
61.
#8 AUGUSTA STATE (20-4, 15-2 PBC)
Killeen, Jason 3-5 6-8 12; Dixon, Daniel 4-9 1-2 11; Siler, Garret 4-4 3-9
11; Bowman, Tyrekus 4-9 2-3 10; Howard, Demetrius 4-8 0-0 10; Madgen, Ben
3-9 0-0 9; Brown, Caleb 1-2 3-4 6; Quarles, Jamie 0-0 2-2 2; Tambon, Luke
0-0 0-0 0; Smith, Steve 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 17-28 71.
Halftime: Augusta State 38 Francis Marion 19
3-point goals-Francis Marion 9-22 (Morley, Nate 4-5; Power, Houston 3-4;
Smith, Sam 1-1; Turner, David 1-1; Stiglbauer, Carter 0-2; Laney, Michael
0-3; Clark, Kevin 0-4; Burton, Rodrick 0-1; Boyd, Simel 0-1), Augusta State
8-23 (Madgen, Ben 3-7; Howard, Demetrius 2-6; Dixon, Daniel 2-6; Brown,
Caleb 1-2; Bowman, Tyrekus 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Augusta
State-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 36 (Smith, Sam 8), Augusta State 34
(Howard, Demetrius 7). Assists-Francis Marion 16 (Jones, Crayton 5), Augusta
State 17 (Madgen, Ben 3; Howard, Demetrius 3; Dixon, Daniel 3; Siler, Garret
3). Total fouls-Francis Marion 19, Augusta State 14. A-905
Men's Sports
