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FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Liki Turner scored 24 points, including 17 in the final 17:17 of the contest, to rally Francis Marion University past Voorhees College 69-66, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 26) in the second game of the 2011 Comfort Suites Classic.

St. Andrews University beat Bluefield College 78-76 in Saturday's opening contest.

Francis Marion improves to 3-2 overall and remains unbeaten all-time against Voorhees in nine meetings.

On Sunday, the Patriots will play host to Bluefield at 4 p.m. as the Comfort Suites Classic concludes.  St. Andrews will meet Voorhees in Sunday's opener at 2 p.m.

Turner also claimed a game-high 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the young season.  His 24 points were one shy of his career high.  Sophomore guard Evrik Gary added 13 points for FMU, and remained perfect at the foul line for the season (34-of-34), while senior guard Marcus Wright chipped in 10 points.

Senior 6-6 forward Garland McArthur led Voorhees (6-3) with 17 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Henry Johnson tallied 16 points, eight assists, and six rebounds.

Two free throws by Turner with 45 seconds left gave FMU a 67-62 cushion, but Voorhees answered with a three-pointer by Sam Dotson to trim the margin to 67-65 with 37 ticks remaining.  Following a Francis Marion turnover, Voorhees' Willie Waters III had a chance to tie the score with 3.1 seconds left, but he made only the first of two free throws to leave FMU with a 67-66 advantage. 

Turner iced the game with two free throws with 1.5 seconds on the clock and Voorhees could manage only a desperation half-court attempt at the final buzzer.

Voorhees took advantage of cold shooting by the Patriots to open a 37-29 halftime lead.  FMU connected on only 8-of-29 field goal attempts (27.6%) over the first 20 minutes.  However, free throw shooting did keep Francis Marion in the contest as the Patriots hit 13-of-14 in the opening stanza.

The Tigers led by 11 on two occasions in the second half, the final time at 48-37 following a three-pointer by Johnson at the 15:58 mark.  FMU ran off nine consecutive points – five by Turner – to cut the deficit to 48-46.  Francis Marion tied the contest at 51-51 on a pair of charity tosses by Turner with 11:06 remaining.

Voorhees pulled back ahead by six points at 60-54 after two free throws by McArthur with 7:25 on the clock.  FMU responded with an 11-0 spurt, concluded by a pair of inside hoops by 6-10 senior center Andrew Smith, to claim a 65-60 advantage.

FMU finished the game shooting 30-of-36 from the foul line, while Voorhees managed only 16-of-25 at the stripe.  The Patriots outrebounded the Tigers 45-34 and led in second-chance points 18-5.

During the first half, Turner surpassed 1,300 points for his career and now stands at 1,321.

11-26-11 4:15 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
Cormfort Suites Classic at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 69, VOORHEES COLLEGE 66

VOORHEES COLLEGE (6-3)
McArthur,Garland 5-11 5-6 17; Johnson,Henry 5-11 5-8 16; Coleman,Brandon 4-8
0-0 8; Evans,Jeffrey 3-4 0-0 7; Waters III,Willie 1-7 3-6 5;
Phillips,Terrick 2-5 1-3 5; Dotson,Sam 1-3 2-2 5; Johnson,Stanley 1-4 0-0 3;
Brown,Charles 0-0 0-0 0; Dathcer,Andre 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 16-25 66.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (3-2)
Liki Turner 6-17 10-12 24; Evrik Gary 3-8 6-6 13; Marcus Wright 4-10 2-2 10;
Andrew Smith 3-10 2-2 8; Mi'Kyel Nero 0-5 7-8 7; Zamarius McLendon 1-2 2-2
4; Clayton Williams 1-1 1-2 3; Darryn Frazier 0-2 0-0 0; Marcel Williams 0-2
0-2 0; Lorenzo Williams 0-0 0-0 0; Maurice Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-58
30-36 69.
Halftime: Voorhees 37 Francis Marion 29.
3-point goals--Voorhees College 6-15 (McArthur,Garland 2-2; Evans,Jeffrey
1-2; Johnson,Stanley 1-1; Johnson,Henry 1-2; Dotson,Sam 1-3; Dathcer,Andre
0-1; Phillips,Terrick 0-2; Coleman,Brandon 0-2), Francis Marion University
3-15 (Liki Turner 2-5; Evrik Gary 1-6; Darryn Frazier 0-2; Maurice Grant
0-1; Marcus Wright 0-1). Fouled out--Voorhees College-Evans,Jeffrey;
Coleman,Brandon, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Voorhees College
34 (McArthur,Garland 6; Johnson,Henry 6), Francis Marion University 45 (Liki
Turner 14). Assists--Voorhees College 13 (Johnson,Henry 8), Francis Marion
University 9 (Mi'Kyel Nero 2; Marcus Wright 2; Liki Turner 2; Evrik Gary 2).
Total fouls--Voorhees College 28, Francis Marion University 21. Technical
fouls--None. A-221