FLORENCE, S.C. – Senior swingman Alex Carter tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead four Armstrong Atlantic State University players in double figures as the Pirates held off Francis Marion University for a 71-63 Peach Belt Conference win, Wednesday night (Feb. 8) in men's action.
Following Carter were reserve sharpshooter Jamaal Galloway with 13 points and five assists, Timmonsville native Bryan Taylor with 12 points, and Kevin Parker with 10 points. AASU improves to 17-5 overall and 11-4 in the PBC and moves into a third-place tie, one game behind the conference leaders.
Senior Vony Rivers led Francis Marion (9-12, 4-10) with 17 points, including five three-pointers, while junior center Raymond Dorsey added 11 points and six rebounds coming off the Patriot bench.
FMU senior guard Michael Jenkins handed out six assists to move into seventh place on the Patriot career assists list with 255, passing Jerry Lattimore (250).
FMU missed eight of its first nine field goal attempts and the Pirates sailed to an early 13-3 advantage. The Patriot rebounded with 11 straight points to go ahead 14-13 with 10:35 left in the opening stanza. AASU retook the lead at 21-19 on two Carter free throws with 8:18 on the clock. The lead would grow to nine points (31-22), before the Pirates carried a 41-35 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.
A dunk by Taylor upped the AASU lead to 45-35 early in the second half. However, Francis Marion caught fire from beyond the three-point arc, making five-of-seven long-range attempts, to race to a 52-50 Patriot lead with 12:12 left in the contest. Rivers had the final three treys as FMU outscored AASU 17-5 in a 5:36 span.
AASU responded with a 10-0 spurt – getting points from four different Pirates – to go ahead for good, 60-52 with 9:22 remaining. AASU salted the game away by forcing FMU to miss its final nine three-point attempts. AASU also excelled at the free throw line, draining 14 of 15 for the game.
FMU travels to Georgia College & State University for a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday, while AASU plays host to UNC Pembroke on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
2-8-06 7:40 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 71, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 63
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (17-5 , 11-4 PBC)
Carter, Alex 5-10 2-2 14; Galloway, Jamaal 3-11 4-4 13; Taylor, Bryan 5-9
2-2 12; Parker, Kevin 4-6 0-0 10; Harris, Tory 2-7 3-4 7; Sanou, Patrick 3-5
1-1 7; Lopez, David 1-1 0-0 3; Kane, William 1-1 0-0 3; Massamba, Darly 0-4
2-2 2; Bloemhof, Nick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 14-15 71.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (9-12 , 4-10 PBC)
Rivers, Vony 6-10 0-0 17; Dorsey, Raymond 5-10 1-1 11; Carter, Michael
3-8 0-0 8; Coakley, Akeene 3-3 0-0 7; Jenkins, Michael 2-11 2-3 7; Walker,
George 3-12 1-2 7; Braxton, Paul 1-2 2-2 4; Charles, Reinaldo 1-4 0-0 2.
Totals 24-60 6-8 63.
Halftime-Armstrong Atlantic 41 Francis Marion 35.
3-point goals-Armstrong Atlantic 9-21 (Galloway 3-9; Parker 2-3; Carter 2-3;
Kane 1-1; Lopez 1-1; Massamba 0-1; Harris 0-3), Francis Marion 9-31 (Rivers
5-9; Carter 2-6; Coakley 1-1; Jenkins 1-8; Charles 0-3; Walker 0-4). Fouled
out--None. Rebounds-Armstrong Atlantic 31 (Carter 13), Francis Marion 33
(Walker 7). Assists-Armstrong Atlantic 19 (Galloway 5), Francis Marion 16
(Jenkins 6). Total fouls-Armstrong Atlantic 13, Francis Marion 17. A-575
