FLORENCE, S.C. – Freshman forward Akeene Coakley came off the bench and hit all four of his three-point attempts in the final 7:45 to lead Francis Marion University to an 88-81 Senior Day upset of Clayton State University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25) in Peach Belt Conference in men's action.

 

The Patriots end their regular season 12-15 overall and in eighth place in the PBC at 7-13. FMU will play UNC Pembroke in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C.

 

Five of the six Francis Marion seniors scored in double figures. Swingman George Walker paced FMU with 20 points, while guard Michael Jenkins added 17 points, forward Michael Carter 15, guard Vony Rivers 12, and forward Reinaldo Charles 12. Coakley was the only other Patriot to scratch in the scoring column with his decisive 12 markers.

 

Jenkins added nine assists in his final home game to surpass former FMU guard Robert Barber and take over sixth place on the Patriot career assists list with 284.

 

Junior guard Brandon Kelley came off the Clayton State bench to tally 24 points, nine of which came in the final 45 seconds of the contest. Forwards John Beugnot and Michael Sloan chipped in 16 and 15 points respectively, while guard Todd McLaurin had 14 points and five assists. The Lakers (21-6, 14-6) will play in the PBC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Greenwood.

 

Francis Marion connected on nine three-point field goals in the opening half to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room at intermission.

 

The Patriot lead would grow to 14 points on two occasions early in the second stanza. Clayton State used a 9-0 run to trim the margin to 59-56 with 9:35 remaining after a fast-break layup by Luis Rodriguez.

 

The margin was five points when Coakley began his late-game push. A trio of three-pointers by Coakley and one by Rivers quickly pushed the FMU advantage to 73-58 with 5:33 left. A pair of free throws by Jenkins gave Francis Marion a seemingly insurmountable 82-72 lead with 58 ticks left. However, Kelly drained a three-pointer and then converted a four-point play to cut the deficit to 83-79 with 33 seconds remaining.

 

Jenkins and Walker then combined to hit five-of-six free throws to seal the win for FMU.

 

The Patriots hit 15 of 34 three-point attempts for the game, one shy of the FMU record for treys in a game. The Lakers hit 14-of-30 from beyond the arc. Francis Marion was 13-of-18 at the charity stripe, while Clayton State was five-of-10, and the Patriots outrebounded the Lakers 32-24.