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PEMBROKE, NC – Sophomore guard Evrik Gary scored a career-high 27 points and Francis Marion University found its shooting stroke as the Patriots defeated St. Andrews University 93-81, Saturday evening (Nov. 12) in the final game of the UNC Pembroke Holiday men's basketball classic.

Francis Marion evens its mark at 1-1 and will return home to entertain Morris College on Friday at 8 p.m. in the second game of the Zaxby's Tip-Off Clazzic.

Gary connected on 7-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-4 three-point attempts, and was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line.  Junior forward Zamarius McLendon added 14 points and eight rebounds, while guards Marcus Wright and Darryn Frazier came off the bench to tally 12 points apiece.  Senior forward Liki Turner chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.

Francis Marion rebounded from Friday's cold shooting performance (27.6%) on Saturday.  The Patriots connected on five of their first seven shots, including a trio of three-pointers by Gary, to grab a quick 17-12 lead.  St. Andrews responded with a 10-2 spurt to take a 22-19 advantage at the midway point of the first half.

A layup by Antonio Moffitt gave St. Andrews a 32-27 lead with 6:39 left before halftime.  FMU then outscored the Knights 19-6 to take a 46-38 advantage heading into the locker room at intermission.  The Patriots shot 56 percent in the opening stanza, including 5-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc, and hit 13-of-17 free throws.

Francis Marion continued its run with a 9-2 spurt to open the second half that extended the Patriot margin to 55-40.  Nine consecutive points by Francis Marion midway through the second half, highlighted by a rare four-point play by Frazier, gave FMU its largest lead of the night at 78-56. 

The margin stood at 21 points (84-63) with 6:49 remaining, when the Knights began a late rally. Twelve straight points by St. Andrews trimmed the margin to nine points at 84-75 with 2:38 left. However, the Patriots sealed the win with free throw shooting over the final 1:24.

FMU finished night with a 56.6 percent shooting percentage and was 25-of-33 at the charity stripe.

11/12/11 6:15 pm at Pembroke, N.C./English E. Jones Center
FRANCIS MARION 93, ST. ANDREWS 81

ST. ANDREWS (0-2)
Williams,Ross 4-12 10-14 18; Streater,Ryan 5-12 4-4 14; Dunkins,Michael 5-9
2-3 14; Christian,Aaron 4-8 4-5 12; Sumski,Chris 3-17 0-0 9; Houpe,Joe 2-5
4-5 8; Murray,Jason 2-2 0-0 4; Moffitt,Antonio 1-3 0-0 2; Newton,Marc 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 26-69 24-31 81.
FRANCIS MARION (1-1)
Evrik Gary 7-10 10-10 27; Zamarius McLendon 4-7 6-8 14; Marcus Wright 4-6
2-3 12; Darryn Frazier 4-5 2-4 12; Liki Turner 3-5 4-6 11; Mi'Kyel Nero 3-6
0-0 6; Andrew Smith 2-9 1-2 5; Lorenzo Williams 2-3 0-0 4; Marcel Williams
1-1 0-0 2; Derek Hosey 0-0 0-0 0; Maurice Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-53
25-33 93.
Halftime: Francis Marion 46 St. Andrews 38.
3-point goals--St. Andrews 5-31 (Sumski,Chris 3-17; Dunkins,Michael 2-6;
Christian,Aaron 0-3; Newton,Marc 0-1; Streater,Ryan 0-2; Williams,Ross 0-2),
Francis Marion 8-14 (Evrik Gary 3-4; Darryn Frazier 2-3; Marcus Wright 2-2;
Liki Turner 1-2; Lorenzo Williams 0-1; Mi'Kyel Nero 0-2). Fouled out--St.
Andrews-None, Francis Marion-Zamarius McLendon; Liki Turner; Mi'Kyel Nero.
Rebounds--St. Andrews 38 (Streater,Ryan 10), Francis Marion 34 (Zamarius
McLendon 8). Assists--St. Andrews 15 (Christian,Aaron 6), Francis Marion 19
(Andrew Smith 5; Marcus Wright 5). Total fouls--St. Andrews 20, Francis
Marion 27. Technical fouls--None. A-279