HARTSVILLE, SC - Sophomore guard Ben Brim came off the Coker College bench and drained five three-point field goals en route to 21 points as the Cobras claimed a 62-47 season-opening win over Francis Marion University, Wednesday night (Nov. 15) in men's non-conference basketball action.
The defeat spoiled the debut of FMU head coach Gary Edwards, and gave the Cobras their 10th win in the 50th all-time meeting of the two local rivals.
Junior forward Rodrick Burton led Francis Marion with 13 points, one shy of his career high. Senior guard Dominic Bishop added 10 points in his first contest as a Patriot.
FMU never trailed in the opening half, but a basket by Coker forward Abram Ludd knotted the score at 25-25 as the teams left the floor at halftime.
Coker scored the first eight points of the second stanza and never trailed again. Brim nailed a pair of three-pointers to fuel that run. The margin would grow to 43-33 with 10:10 remaining in the game, but FMU rallied to trim the lead to 50-46 on a jumper by Bishop with five minutes left. However, a lone free throw by Raymond Dorsey resulted in the only points FMU would score for the rest of the contest.
Francis Marion shot 51.5 percent for the game, but the Patriots only managed to attempt 33 shots. Coker hit half of its shots (20 of 40), including 11 of 20 three-point attempts. The Patriots also committed 19 turnovers.
FMU will play host to Savannah College of Art & Design, Saturday at 3 p.m. in the second-annual Zaxby's Tip-Off Clazzic.
11-15-06 8 pm at Hartsville, SC (Timerlake-Lawton Gym)
COKER 62 FRANCIS MARION 47
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (0-1)
Burton, Rodrick 3-5 7-9 13; Bishop, Dominic 4-7 1-3 10; Dorsey, Raymond 4-7
1-5 9; Ashford, Kevin 3-5 0-1 6; Peterson, Larnelle 1-3 2-2 4; Lee, Artis
1-3 0-0 3; Baker, Cortne' 1-2 0-0 2; Collins, Charles 0-1 0-0 0; Stewart,
Benson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-33 11-20 47.
COKER COLLEGE (1-0)
Brim, Ben 7-10 2-2 21; Varga, Lukas 3-7 4-6 10; Ludd, Abram 3-5 3-4 9;
Fulwood, Jason 2-5 0-0 6; Fulwood, Ryan 1-2 2-2 5; Branzon, Boycho 2-4 0-0
5; Lowery, Mike 1-3 0-0 3; Hukill, Taylor 1-3 0-0 3; Gore, Michael 0-0 0-0
0; Lacayo, Sebastian 0-1 0-0 0; Hafner, Joel 0-0 0-0 0; Smith, Chaz 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 20-40 11-14 62.
Halftime: 25-25; 3-point goals-Francis Marion 2-3 (Lee, Artis 1-1; Bishop, Dominic
1-1; Peterson, Larnelle 0-1), Coker College 11-20 (Brim, Ben 5-8; Fulwood,
Jason 2-3; Fulwood, Ryan 1-1; Hukill, Taylor 1-1; Branzon, Boycho 1-2;
Lowery, Mike 1-2; Varga, Lukas 0-3). Fouled out--Francis Marion
University-Baker, Cortne', Coker College-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion
University 25 (Burton, Rodrick 3; Dorsey, Raymond 3; Ashford, Kevin 3),
Coker College 20 (Varga, Lukas 3). Assists-Francis Marion University 4
(Peterson, Larnelle 2), Coker College 5 (Fulwood, Ryan 2). Total
fouls-Francis Marion 16, Coker College 18. A-650
