FLORENCE, SC - Francis Marion University scored the game's final four points, including a go-ahead basket by 6-9 sophomore center Andrew Smith with 30 seconds left, to capture a 67-64 win over UNC Pembroke, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 2) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

Francis Marion improves to 9-1 for only the fourth time in school history and remains unbeaten in the PBC at 2-0, while besting the Braves for the seventh straight meeting.

Four Patriots scored 11 points: senior guards Herman Mains and Kendrick Robinson, junior swingman Simel Boyd, and junior center David Turner.  Turner also hauled down 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season.  FMU was playing for the first time in 28 days following its holiday break.

Francis Marion will host Southern Wesleyan University on Monday at 7 p.m. in the team's final non-conference contest of the season.

Junior guard Chris Hargrove led UNCP (5-7, 1-2) with 18 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Shahmel Brackett tallied 14 points.

Francis Marion scored the game's opening six points and led for the maniority of the first half.  A three-pointer by Brackett pushed UNCP ahead for the first time at 22-21.  The Patriots regained the lead, but two free throws by Marcus Heath with 14 ticks left in the opening half gave the Braves a 33-32 halftime lead.

A jumper by Brackett gave UNCP its largest lead of the game at 42-36 with 16:44 remaining. Senior swingman Kaylan Anderson then capped a 12-4 FMU burst with a three-pointer that put the Patriots up 48-46.  A fast-break layup by Anderson pushed the FMU margin to 56-50 with 8:36 left, but an 8-1 spurt by the Braves gave UNCP a 58-57 advantage.

A layup by Hargrove with 1:38 remaining lifted UNCP to a 64-63 lead.  Smith's jumper in the lane, off an assist from Turner, pushed FMU back in front 65-64 with 30 seconds remaining.  On the ensuing possession, FMU junior guard Bryant Julious came up with a steal and made 1-of-2 free throws at the :26 mark to extend the lead to 66-64.  Following another UNCP turnover, Robinson hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the margin 67-64 with 13 seconds left.

In the final four seconds, Bracket missed both a three-pointer from the top of the key and then an off-balance last-second three-point attempt from deep in the left corner.

Both teams shot nearly the same percentage from the floor (36.1% for Francis Marion to 36.7% for UNCP), but the Patriots made four more free throws than did the Braves.

UNCP also played the majority of the contest without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Brandon Thomas who was ejected from the game following a deadball contact technical foul in the first half.

1-2-10 3:45 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 67, UNC PEMBROKE 64
UNC PEMBROKE (5-7 , 1-2 PBC)
Hargrove, Chris 8-11 1-1 18; Brackett, Shahmel 4-13 4-4 14; Heath, Marcus
2-13 3-3 7; Robinson, Mike 2-5 1-3 5; Blakeney, George 1-1 3-4 5; Egli,
Tyler 1-1 2-2 5; Priest, Nate 2-7 0-0 4; Cooper, K.J. 1-5 0-2 3; Thomas,
Brandon 1-4 0-0 2; Thorpe, Maurice 0-0 1-2 1; Hukill, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 22-60 15-21 64.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (9-1 , 2-0 PBC)
Robinson, Kendrick 4-12 2-3 11; Turner, David 3-11 5-8 11; Boyd, Simel 3-7
5-8 11; Mains, Herman 4-9 2-2 11; Anderson, Kaylan 3-9 0-0 8; Smith, Andrew
2-3 2-5 6; Julious, Bryant 2-5 1-2 5; Faulkner, Robert 1-1 0-0 2; Petreikis,
Mindaugas 0-0 1-2 1; Gullatte, Edward 0-0 1-2 1; Peterson, Andy 0-1 0-0 0;
Candelaria, Mike 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 19-32 67.
Halftime: UNC Pembroke 33 Francis Marion 32
3-point goals--UNC Pembroke 5-16 (Brackett, Shahmel 2-7; Hargrove, Chris
1-1; Egli, Tyler 1-1; Cooper, K.J. 1-1; Heath, Marcus 0-6), Francis Marion
University 4-19 (Anderson, Kaylan 2-4; Mains, Herman 1-1; Robinson, Kendrick
1-6; Candelaria, Mike 0-3; Boyd, Simel 0-2; Turner, David 0-3). Fouled
out--UNC Pembroke-Blakeney, George, Francis Marion University-None.
Rebounds--UNC Pembroke 39 (Hargrove, Chris 6; Heath, Marcus 6), Francis
Marion University 43 (Turner, David 10). Assists--UNC Pembroke 15 (Heath,
Marcus 9), Francis Marion University 13 (Candelaria, Mike 3). Total
fouls--UNC Pembroke 26, Francis Marion University 22. Technical fouls--UNC
Pembroke-Thomas, Brandon, Francis Marion University-Faulkner, Robert. A-503