GREENWOOD, S.C. – Senior Jeffrey Brown and junior Lee Moore combined for 12 points in overtime to lead UNC Pembroke to an 83-78 upset over Francis Marion University, Wednesday evening (March 1) in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference men's basketball tournament.
The 10th-seeded Braves (5-23) win a tournament game for the first time since 1997. UNCP advances to face second-seed Georgia College & State University in Friday’s first semifinal contest at 1 p.m.
Francis Marion remains winless in the tournament since 1999 and ends its season at 12-16.
Senior swingman George Walker led the Patriots with a career-high equaling 24 points. He set a PBC Tournament record for free throws made with 14, while tying the record for free throw attempts with 16. Senior Vony Rivers scored 20 points, but was only 7-of-23 from the floor. Both Walker and Rivers hauled down nine rebounds. Seniors Michael Jenkins and Michael Carter chipped in 12 and 11 points in their final game.
Moore led UNCP with 18 points coming off the Braves’ bench. Brown tallied 14 points, including eight in the extra session.
Rivers forced overtime with a rainbow 22-foot three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 71-71. A three-pointer by Brown midway through overtime gave UNCP a 78-74 advantage. Baskets by Raymond Dorsey and Rivers knotted the game at 78-78 with one minute left. However, FMU would not score again. Leading by three, Moore sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 18 ticks remaining.
The score was tied at 31-31 at intermission as the Patriots connected on only 9-of-31 shots in the opening half. Francis Marion led on three short occasions early in the second stanza. UNCP would regain the lead and led by six points (64-58) with 3:40 left in regulation. Carter then scored seven straight points to give FMU a 65-64 lead. Two free throws by UNCP point guard Scooter Lawrence with 18 seconds left gave the Braves a 71-68 advantage and set the stage for Rivers’ dramatic shot.
“I thought UNC Pembroke deserved to win,” said FMU head coach John Schweitz. “Our emphasis was to play hard and outwork them, but that didn’t happen. We broke down in too many areas. We tried to shorten the game by play zone defense, but our zone defense was not very good. We also did not make our threes (only 7-of-31).”
3-1-06 5:00 pm at Horne Arena, Greenwood, SC
UNC PEMBROKE 83, FRANCIS MARION 78
UNC PEMBROKE (5-23)
Moore, Lee 6-15 2-4 18; Brown, Jeffrey 4-13 4-7 14; Salazar, Mark 4-8 3-4
11; Carr, Tony 3-8 4-6 10; Walters, John 3-5 0-0 9; Lawrence, Scooter 2-4
4-4 8; Brown, Cortez 2-9 2-2 7; Adams, Jabarr 2-3 2-5 6; Danielsen, Arne 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 26-67 21-32 83.
FRANCIS MARION (12-16)
Walker, George 5-12 14-16 24; Rivers, Vony 7-23 4-8 20; Jenkins, Michael
5-12 0-0 12; Carter, Michael 3-5 3-8 11; Coakley, Akeene 1-5 0-0 3; Dorsey,
Raymond 1-1 1-2 3; Charles, Reinaldo 1-7 1-2 3; Hamilton, Marchello 1-2 0-1
2; Braxton, Paul 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-67 23-37 78.
Halftime: 31-31. Regulation: 71-71.
3-point goals-UNCP 10-26 (Moore 4-7; Walters 3-5; J.Brown 2-7; C.Brown 1-5;
Adams 0-1; Lawrence 0-1), Francis Marion 7-31 (Rivers 2-10; Jenkins 2-5;
Carter 2-4; Coakley 1-2; Charles 0-4; Walker 0-6). Fouled out--Salazar, Jenkins,
Charles. Rebounds-UNCP 50 (Carr 12), Francis Marion 47 (Walker 9; Rivers 9).
Assists-UNCP 19 (Lawrence 6), Francis Marion 12 (Jenkins 7). Total
fouls-UNCP 26, Francis Marion 29. A-348
