FLORENCE, SC – Junior forward Liki Turner scored 16 points to pace a balanced Francis Marion University scoring attack as the Patriots downed USC Aiken 86-79, Wednesday night (Jan. 12) in Peach Belt Conference men's action.

FMU improves to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the PBC, while the Pacers fall to 9-5 and 3-4 with their third consecutive loss.  Francis Marion will play a rare weekend doubleheader with road games at Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday and at Columbus State University on Sunday.

Following Turner were six Patriots with nine or more points: Simel Boyd 13, Shawn Greenfield 13, Dominique Coleman 11, Andrew Smith 9, Evrik Gary 9, and Bryant Julious 9.  Turner also led FMU with nine rebounds.  Greenfield handed out six assists and Boyd aided the cause by hitting 9-of-10 free throws.

Junior 6-9 forward Michael Technow led USCA with 16 points, on 5-of-11 shooting, and hauled down 11 rebounds.  Junior 6-7 reserve forward Kevin Willis also registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Re'mon Nelson added 13 points and Chase Holmes chipped in 12 points. 

Three Pacers fouled out in the game that saw Francis Marion connect on 33-of-44 free throws.

USCA snapped an early 13-13 deadlock with a 15-1 run that produced a 28-14 lead with a little over seven minutes left to play in the first half.  Francis Marion answered back with its own 22-5 spurt to end the half that gave the Patriots a 36-33 lead at intermission.  A layup by Smith and consecutive three-pointers by Coleman ignited the rally.  FMU held USCA to only 1-of-8 shooting from the field over that final seven minutes.

USCA trimmed the deficit to one points twice in the early stages of the second stanza, the final time at 44-43 following a layup by Nelson with 16:55 left.  Francis Marion scored 17 of the game's next 19 points, capped by a fast-break dunk by Turner, to lead by 16 points (61-45) with 10:33 remaining.

The Pacers cut the 16-point advantage to six (76-70) after an inside hoop by Nelson with 2:02 on the clock. However, the Patriots were able to hold off the Pacers by hitting 10-of-12 free throws over the final 1:23.

Francis Marion connected on 44.2 percent of its shots, while USCA shot 44.1 percent.  However, the Pacers were only 13-of-24 at the charity stripe.

1-12-11 8 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 86, USC AIKEN 79

USC AIKEN (9-5 , 3-4 PBC)
Technow, Michael 5-11 6-9 16; Willis, Kevin 6-13 2-3 14; Nelson, Re'mon 4-11
4-5 13; Holmes, Chase 5-7 0-2 12; Faison, Byron 4-8 0-0 8; Seilern, Jesse
3-6 0-1 8; Council, Sterling 3-7 0-0 7; Brown, Alvin 0-4 1-4 1; Shephard,
Brandon 0-1 0-0 0; Frater, Scotty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-68 13-24 79.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (9-3 , 3-2 PBC)
Turner, Liki 5-11 6-6 16; Greenfield, Shawn 4-7 3-4 13; Boyd, Simel 2-6 9-10
13; Coleman, Dominique 3-6 2-6 11; Gary, Evrik 1-4 6-6 9; Smith, Andrew 4-8
1-2 9; Julious, Bryant 2-2 5-8 9; Turner, David 2-8 1-2 6. Totals 23-52
33-44 86.
Halftime: Francis Marion 36 USC Aiken 33
3-point goals--USC Aiken 6-18 (Seilern, Jesse 2-5; Holmes, Chase 2-3;
Nelson, Re'mon 1-5; Council, Sterling 1-2; Shephard, Brandon 0-1; Faison,
Byron 0-2), Francis Marion University 7-12 (Coleman, Dominique 3-3;
Greenfield, Shawn 2-2; Gary, Evrik 1-3; Turner, David 1-3; Boyd, Simel 0-1).
Fouled out--USC Aiken-Faison, Byron; Willis, Kevin; Brown, Alvin, Francis
Marion University-None. Rebounds--USC Aiken 40 (Willis, Kevin 11; Technow,
Michael 11), Francis Marion University 35 (Turner, Liki 9). Assists--USC
Aiken 15 (Nelson, Re'mon 4), Francis Marion University 13 (Greenfield, Shawn
6). Total fouls--USC Aiken 33, Francis Marion University 22. Technical
fouls--USC Aiken Bench. A-1094