SAVANNAH, GA. – Andre King-Holland came off the Eckerd College bench to score a team-high 15 points and hand out six assists as the 25th-ranked Tritons turned back Francis Marion University 80-66, Saturday afternoon (Dec. 16) at the Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic in Savannah, Ga.

Francis Marion (3-6) was led by senior guard Dominic Bishop, who scored a career-high equaling 17 points.  Senior forward Raymond Dorsey tallied 14 points and seven rebounds, while freshman point guard Cortne’ Baker chipped in 10 points before fouling out.

Eckerd (9-1) never trailed in the contest and gradually built a 17-point advantage (36-19) at intermission.

Both teams shot well in the second stanza – Francis Marion 63.3 percent and Eckerd 62.5 percent – but the Patriots were never able to cut the deficit under double figures.  A tip-in by Rodrick Burton with 13:31 left trimmed the margin to 47-37, but the Tritons scored nine of the next 12 points to go up 56-40 and were never seriously threatened again.

Francis Marion will return to action after the New Year when the Patriots open Peach Belt Conference play at home against Lander University, Jan. 2 at 7:20 p.m.

12-16-06 3:00 p.m. at Savannah, Ga. (Alumni Arena)

ECKERD 80, FRANCIS MARION 66

ECKERD (9-1)

KING-HOLLAND, Andre 6-10 3-4 15; CENATUS, Matt 3-6 4-4 13; KING, Josh 3-8

0-0 9; MOSS, Andre 3-5 2-3 8; RUDAKAS, Jason 3-4 0-0 7; WASHINGTON, Marcus

2-7 2-4 6; QUIRI, C.J. 1-2 3-4 5; MORRIS, Damone 2-2 0-0 4; HAZEL, Craig 2-3

0-2 4; HARPER, John 2-4 0-0 4; CANTENS, Joey 1-1 0-0 3; KOSTERLITZ, Chase

1-1 0-0 2; NICHOLS, Mycal 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 14-21 80.

FRANCIS MARION (3-6)

Bishop, Dominic 5-12 4-6 17; Dorsey, Raymond 6-9 2-4 14; Baker, Cortne' 4-10

1-2 10; Coakley, Akeene 4-8 0-0 9; Morley, Nate 3-5 0-0 9; Ashford, Kevin

2-4 0-1 4; Burton, Rodrick 1-7 1-2 3; Peterson, Larnelle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals

25-55 8-15 66.

Halftime: Eckerd 36  Francis Marion 19.

3-point goals-Eckerd 8-19 (KING, Josh 3-8; CENATUS, Matt 3-4; CANTENS, Joey

1-1; RUDAKAS, Jason 1-2; HARPER, John 0-1; MOSS, Andre 0-2; KING-HOLLAND,

Andre 0-1), Francis Marion 8-19 (Morley, Nate 3-5; Bishop, Dominic 3-4;

Coakley, Akeene 1-3; Baker, Cortne' 1-3; Burton, Rodrick 0-4). Fouled

out--Eckerd-RUDAKAS, Jason, Francis Marion-Baker, Cortne'. Rebounds-Eckerd

35 (WASHINGTON, Marcus 9), Francis Marion 27 (Dorsey, Raymond 7).

Assists-Eckerd 17 (KING-HOLLAND, Andre 6), Francis Marion 10 (Baker, Cortne'

3). Total fouls-Eckerd 16, Francis Marion 17. A-121