MURFREESBORO, NC – Junior guard Evrik Gary scored a team-high 20 points, including eight in a decisive 22-4 second-half run, as Francis Marion University rallied for a 91-83 road win over Chowan University, Wednesday evening (Dec. 12) in non-conference men's basketball action.

Francis Marion, now 4-1, will open Peach Belt Conference play on Saturday with a road contest at Georgia College.  Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m.

FMU, the nation's top scoring and three-point shooting team, trailed by four at halftime 49-45, but rallied over the final 20 minutes by hitting 8-of-12 second-half three-point attempts.

Gary had three long-range shots, while also hauling down five rebounds.  Junior forward Robert Carpenter came off the Patriot bench to score a season-high 17 points with a team-high six rebounds, while sophomore point guard Clayton Williams and freshman Cameron Lee each tallied 13 points.  Both Williams and Lee were 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while Carpenter was a perfect 3-of-3.

Ashante Ross led the Hawks (5-3) with 21 points and 11 boards.

The win avenged a double-digit home loss to Chowan last season in Florence.

Chowan opened up a 10-point margin twice in the early going of the second half, and the Hawks led 68-60 with  13:06 remaining.  Francis Marion responded with 11 straight points to take the lead for good.  A layup by Alex Tucker put the Patriots on top 69-68.  The spurt eventually grew to 22-4 as FMU opened an 82-72 advantage after a jumper by Dustin Jones with 5:43 left.

Chowan trimmed the margin in half to 86-81 with 33 seconds left, but the Patriots sealed the win by hitting five of six free throws.

12/12/12 7:30pm at Chowan University
FRANCIS MARION 91, CHOWAN 83

FRANCIS MARION (4-1)
Evrik Gary 7-15 3-4 20; Robert Carpenter 5-10 4-5 17; Cameron Lee 4-5 2-2
13; Clayton Williams 5-7 0-0 13; Dustin Jones 4-8 0-0 9; Mi'Kyel Nero 3-9
0-0 6; Tyler Deihl 2-5 0-0 6; Nequan Melvin 1-2 0-0 2; Chris Rhodes 1-5 0-0
2; Alex Tucker 1-1 0-0 2; Storm Clonch 0-4 1-2 1; Antonio Freeman 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 33-71 10-13 91.
CHOWAN (5-3)
ROSS,Ashante 8-14 3-4 21; BETHEL,Kyree 6-11 2-2 19; MCDUFFIE,Quinton 7-10
3-3 17; SMITH,Kortez 6-11 0-0 14; WILLIAM,Chris 4-6 2-4 10; ALSTON,Greg 0-1
2-2 2; LAMB,Rickey 0-2 0-1 0; FAIRLEY,Jerry 0-0 0-0 0; BLACKMON,Alray 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 31-55 12-16 83.
Halftime: Chowan 49 Francis Marion 45
3-point goals--Francis Marion 15-34 (Clayton Williams 3-4; Robert Carpenter
3-3; Evrik Gary 3-8; Cameron Lee 3-4; Tyler Deihl 2-5; Dustin Jones 1-4;
Storm Clonch 0-2; Chris Rhodes 0-2; Mi'Kyel Nero 0-2), Chowan 9-19
(BETHEL,Kyree 5-8; SMITH,Kortez 2-5; ROSS,Ashante 2-3; ALSTON,Greg 0-1;
LAMB,Rickey 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Chowan-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 33 (Robert Carpenter 6), Chowan 33 (ROSS,Ashante
11). Assists--Francis Marion 16 (Chris Rhodes 4), Chowan 20 (ALSTON,Greg 8).
Total fouls--Francis Marion 17, Chowan 14. Technical fouls--None. A-100