FLORENCE, S.C. – Senior guard Dominic Bishop tallied career-highs of 23 points and eight rebounds and freshman guard Cortne’ Baker converted four free throws in the final two minutes as Francis Marion University upset USC Upstate 66-62, Wednesday night (Jan. 24) in Peach Belt Conference men's action.

Bishop hit on 9-of-13 field goal attempts and also handed out four assists as the Patriots (5-12, 2-5) won for the second time in their last three outings. The 5-7 Baker added 12 points and dished out six assists. His free throws snapped a 62-62 deadlock and provided the final margin of victory.

The win also snapped a five-game winning streak for USC Upstate in the 54-game series.

Sophomore swingman Daniel Quinlan paced the Spartans (12-6, 4-3) with 15 points and four assists, while 6-8 center Ante Pikunic registered 11 points and 16 rebounds. Junior guard Luke Payne chipped in 11 points, while junior guard Jeremy Byrd, the nation’s leader in steals at 3.7 per game, added eight points, four assists and four steals.

Although neither squad excelled at the free throw line, Francis Marion managed just enough, hitting 10 of 22, while USC Upstate was 5-of-18. The Spartans entered the game shooting 68 percent from the stripe.

Trailing 7-6 early in the contest, FMU scored eight straight points to lead 14-7. USC Upstate trimmed the margin to 20-19 following a Jabree Moton layup with 5:22 left in the half. Francis Marion responded with a 14-6 spurt to close the stanza and held a 34-25 advantage at intermission.

Consecutive three-pointers by Byrd and Quinlan quieted the Sea of Red crowd and knotted the score at 41-41 with 15:31 remaining. The Spartans slowly crept to a 57-49 lead with 7:12 left as Francis Marion suffered through a four-minute drought the produced only a pair of free throws.

Led by Bishop, the Patriots stormed back to tie the game at 62-62 on a layup by the Buffalo, N.Y., native with 2:16 left. Following a Quinlan miss, Baker put FMU ahead 63-62 with one free throw at the 1:45 mark. Much to the delight of the roaring Smith University Center crowd, he then drained a pair of free throws with 37 ticks left and one with 23 seconds on the clock to seal the win. USC Upstate misfired on its final five field goal attempts.

FMU will play host to Augusta State University, Saturday at 4 p.m., while USC Upstate visits Georgia College & State University on the same afternoon, also at 4 p.m.