FLORENCE, S.C. – Possessing a 10-point halftime lead, Francis Marion University missed 12 of its first 13 field goal attempts in the second stanza allowing North Georgia College & State University to rally and the Saints used clutch free throw shooting in the final minute to take a 64-61 win over the Patriots, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.
North Georgia snaps a 15-game losing skid and ups its overall mark to 5-19, while winning for the first time in 13 conference games. Guard Jay Anderson paced the Saints with 24 points. Three other Saint starters reached double figures: Ryan Franklin with 13 points and Anthony Rowe and Jakirra Millsap with 10 each. Rowe grabbed nine rebounds and Millsap dished out nine assists.
Senior forward Raymond Dorsey led Francis Marion (7-15, 4-8) with 18 points, while 6-8 senior center Kevin Ashford tallied career-highs of 13 points and 14 rebounds. Senior guard Dominic Bishop added 15 points, five of which came in the final 20 seconds.
Francis Marion held North Georgia to 25.9 percent shooting (7 of 27) in the opening 20 minutes and the Patriots held a comfortable 33-23 lead at intermission. The FMU cold streak to open the second half enabled the Saints to take a 34-33 lead with an 11-0 run.
A three-point play by Dorsey put FMU up 51-50 with 3:03 remaining, but Franklin scored on back-to-back reverse layups to give the Saints a 54-51 advantage. Following a layup by Ashford that trimmed the margin to one point, Rowe converted a three-point play to put North Georgia up 57-53 with 1:01 remaining.
North Georgia led 62-58 following a pair of free throws by Anderson with 17 ticks left, but Bishop cut the lead to 62-61 on a three-pointer with 10 seconds left. Anderson sank one free throw to make the margin two points, and following a turnover by Bishop, Millsap made one of two free throws with eight-tenths of a second left to give the Saints a 64-61 margin. Bishop’s three-point heave from 35 feet at the final horn clanged off the rim.
Both teams combined to shoot 7-of-35 from behind the three-point arc, with FMU missing 18 of 22 attempts.
The Patriots play host to non-conference foe Chowan College, Monday at 7:30 p.m., and all Patriots fans are encouraged to wear red.
2-10-07 4:05 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
NORTH GEORGIA COLL. & ST. UNIV 64, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 61
NORTH GEORGIA COLL. & ST. UNIV (5-19 , 1-12 PBC)
Anderson, Jay 7-17 9-11 24; Franklin, Ryan 5-11 2-6 13; Millsap, Jakirra 2-6
6-10 10; Rowe, Anthony 3-9 4-5 10; Trice, Xavier 2-7 0-0 5; Shoupes, Robert
1-3 0-0 2; Newton, Colby 0-0 0-0 0; Shaw, Colby 0-0 0-0 0; Crawford, Sam 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 20-53 21-32 64.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (7-15, 4-8 PBC)
Dorsey, Raymond 8-13 2-7 18; Bishop, Dominic 5-17 4-4 15; Ashford, Kevin
4-10 5-7 13; Morley, Nate 3-6 0-0 8; Burton, Rodrick 1-4 0-0 3; Peterson,
Larnelle 1-2 0-0 2; Baker, Cortne' 1-8 0-0 2; Lee, Artis 0-1 0-0 0; Jones,
Nelson 0-0 0-0 0; Borojevich, Greg 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 11-18 61.
Halftime: Francis Marion 33 North Georgia 23.
3-point goals-North Georgia Coll. & St. Univ 3-13 (Franklin, Ryan 1-3;
Trice, Xavier 1-2; Anderson, Jay 1-7; Millsap, Jakirra 0-1), Francis Marion
University 4-22 (Morley, Nate 2-5; Bishop, Dominic 1-9; Burton, Rodrick 1-2;
Baker, Cortne' 0-5; Lee, Artis 0-1). Fouled out--North Georgia Coll. & St.
Univ-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds-North Georgia Coll. &
St. Univ 38 (Trice, Xavier 10), Francis Marion University 44 (Ashford, Kevin
14). Assists-North Georgia Coll. & St. Univ 13 (Millsap, Jakirra 9), Francis
Marion University 16 (Morley, Nate 5). Total fouls-North Georgia Coll. & St.
Univ 17, Francis Marion University 23. A-300
