FLORENCE, SC - Junior 6-8 forward Robert Faulkner came off the bench to tally game-high totals of 22 points and 17 rebounds and lead Francis Marion University to a commanding 101-62 non-conference win over Carver Bible College, Wednesday night (Nov. 18) in the Patriots' home opener for 2009-10.

FMU improves to 3-0 with its third straight double-digit win and its 13th consecutive non-conference victory dating back to 2007.  Carver Bible, playing its third road game in as many nights, drops to 0-7. 

Faulkner connected on 10-of-13 field goal attempts to lead a Patriot bench effort that contributed 61 points and 38 rebounds.  Junior 6-6 swingman Andy Peterson followed Faulkner with 15 points, also in a reserve role.  Senior guard Kaylan Anderson added 11 points as 11 of the 13 Francis Marion players scored.  Junior guard Edward Gullatte registered nine points and eight assists.

A three-pointer by Carver Bible's Terry Charles kept the Cougars within four points at 26-22 midway through the opening half.  However, Francis Marion scored 12 of the game's next 13 points to go up 38-23 with 4:57 left in the half.  The Patriots later closed the half on a 10-1 run to take a 50-29 lead at intermission.

The lead dipped under 20 points only once in the second half and FMU's largest lead was 43 points on three occasions.

Senior 6-6 forward Joshua Caston led Carver Bible with 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while sophomore guard Cory Evans chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds.  Charles scored 12 points off the Cougars' bench.

Francis Marion held a 59-35 rebounding advantage and led 28-10 in second-chance points.  FMU committed only 11 turnovers and converted 26 Cougar miscues into 37 points.

The Patriots shot 50 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the game, including 8-of-24 from three-point range.  The Cougars managed only 37.3 percent shooting and were 7-of-25 from beyond the arc.

Francis Marion will face local-rival Coker College on Friday at 6 p.m. in the opening game of the UNC Pembroke Classic.  Carver Bible will play host to Edward Waters College on Saturday at 5 p.m.

11-18-09 8 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 101, CARVER BIBLE COLLEGE 62
CARVER BIBLE COLLEGE (0-7)
Caston, Joshua 6-8 4-7 16; Evans, Cory 5-12 2-2 15; Charles, Terry 4-14 0-2
12; Rouse, Zarambo 2-5 3-5 7; Fulks, Marcus 2-6 2-4 6; Hood, Nicholas 3-10
0-0 6; Blackwell, Nick 0-1 0-0 0; Scott, Rashad 0-3 0-0 0; Dunn, Quintin 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 22-59 11-20 62.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (3-0)
Faulkner, Robert 10-13 2-9 22; Peterson, Andy 7-9 1-2 15; Anderson, Kaylan
3-11 5-6 11; Gullatte, Edward 3-8 0-2 9; Boyd, Simel 3-10 2-4 8; Petreikis,
Mindaugas 3-5 2-4 8; Mains, Herman 3-7 0-0 8; Julious, Bryant 2-7 0-0 6;
Robinson, Kendrick 2-8 0-0 5; Turner, David 2-6 1-2 5; Smith, Andrew 2-3 0-0
4; Sinkler, Mark 0-0 0-0 0; Gary, Evrik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-87 13-29 101.
Halftime: Francis Marion 50 Carver Bible College 29
3-point goals--Carver Bible College 7-25 (Charles, Terry 4-11; Evans, Cory
3-9; Hood, Nicholas 0-5), Francis Marion University 8-24 (Gullatte, Edward
3-5; Mains, Herman 2-4; Julious, Bryant 2-3; Robinson, Kendrick 1-5; Turner,
David 0-1; Boyd, Simel 0-1; Anderson, Kaylan 0-3; Peterson, Andy 0-2).
Fouled out--Carver Bible College-Fulks, Marcus; Hood, Nicholas; Rouse,
Zarambo, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Carver Bible College 35
(Evans, Cory 7; Rouse, Zarambo 7), Francis Marion University 59 (Faulkner,
Robert 17). Assists--Carver Bible College 16 (Caston, Joshua 6), Francis
Marion University 27 (Gullatte, Edward 8). Total fouls--Carver Bible College
23, Francis Marion University 15. Technical fouls--Carver Bible
College-None, Francis Marion University-TEAM. A-1611

      Robert Faulkner