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ELIZABETH CITY, NC - Elizabeth City State University used a 20-7 run to open the second half to overtake Francis Marion University and claim a 75-65 non-conference win, Wednesday evening (Dec. 14) in men's college basketball action.

Francis Marion led 38-36 at halftime, but the Vikings connected on 56 percent of their shots over the final 20 minutes.  FMU drops to 5-4, while Elizabeth City State improves to 6-2.

FMU will play its final game of the calendar year on Saturday at Armstrong Atlantic State University.  The Peach Belt Conference tilt will start at 3:30 p.m.

Sophomore guard Evrik Gary led the Patriots with 20 points and seven rebounds, while senior Liki Turner added 11 points and seven rebounds, and junior Zamarius McLendon 10 points and six boards.  Gary hit on 4-of-9 attempts from three-point range.

The Vikings were led by reserve Paul Goldsmith's 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting.  Quinton Spady scored 12 points.

Francis Marion took advantage of a cold shooting start by ECSU and raced to a 17-11 lead.  A three-pointer by Gary with 3:51 left in the half gave the Patriots their largest lead of the night at 29-22.  ECSU answered with a 10-2 run that put the Vikings on top 32-31.  Gary nailed another three-pointer just before the first-half buzzer that allowed FMU to leave the court at halftime with a two-point lead (38-36).

Elizabeth City State hit five of its first six shots to open the second stanza and the Vikings sailed to a 48-41 advantage.  A bucket by Goldsmith with 12:52 remaining stretched the ECSU lead to 56-45.

A three-pointer by Omar Jones gave ECSU a 65-49 lead with 7:12 left in the contest, and completed a 29-11 spurt to start the second half.

Compared to ECSU's hot shooting over the final 20 minutes, Francis Marion connected on only 12-of-39 attempts (30.8%).

FMU outrebounded the Vikings 41-35 and led 19-6 in second-chance points.

12-14-11 6 pm at Elizabeth City,NC-RL Vaughan Center
ELIZABETH CITY STATE 75, FRANCIS MARION 65

FRANCIS MARION (5-4)
Evrik Gary 8-18 0-0 20; Liki Turner 5-9 1-2 11; Zamarius McLendon 4-6 2-2
10; Marcel Williams 2-5 2-2 6; Marcus Wright 2-8 0-0 6; Andrew Smith 2-7 0-0
4; Darryn Frazier 1-7 0-2 3; Mi'Kyel Nero 1-4 1-2 3; Maurice Grant 1-2 0-2
2; Lorenzo Williams 0-0 0-0 0; Clayton Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 6-12 65.
ELIZABETH CITY STATE (6-2)
GOLDSMITH,Paul 7-10 0-0 14; SPADY,Quintin 4-7 0-0 12; PRICE,Blake 4-8 1-2 9;
SHARPLESS,Angelo 4-7 0-0 8; TUCKER,Rondy 3-7 2-2 8; JONES,Omar 2-7 2-2 8;
COOKE,Marquie 0-0 5-7 5; WILLIAMS,Lawrence 2-4 0-0 4; MOORE,Jaron 1-2 2-3 4;
PATTERSON,Glenn 1-3 0-0 3; WRIGHT,C.J. 0-2 0-0 0; SINCLAIR,Aric 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 28-58 12-16 75.
Halftime: Francis Marion 38 ECSU 36
3-point goals--Francis Marion 7-22 (Gary 4-9; Wright 2-6; Frazier 1-5;
Grant 0-1; C.Williams 0-1), ECSU 7-14 (Spady 4-5; Jones 2-4; Patterson 1-2;
Sharpless 0-2; Price 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 41
(Gary 7; Turner 7), ECSU 35 (Tucker 9). Assists--Francis Marion 11 (Gary 4),
ECSU 15 (Jones 4). Total fouls-Francis Marion 15, ECSU 12. Technical fouls-None. A-278