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FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Liki Turner registered his 10th double-double of the year with 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead five Patriots in double-digit scoring as Francis Marion University cruised to a 103-68 victory over Flagler College, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18) in Peach Belt Conference men's action.

The win ups FMU's overall mark to 15-11 and with an 8-8 league mark keeps the squad's hopes of making the PBC Tournament alive.  The Patriots will celebrate Senior Night on Monday when Armstrong Atlantic State University visits the Smith University Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

Turner scored half of his points in the opening nine minutes as FMU only trailed briefly before a Homecoming crowd of 1,589.  The 6-5 Richmond, Va., native surpassed the 1,700-point mark for his career and now has 1,707 to go along with 916 rebounds.

Senior point guard Marcus Wright followed Turner with 17 points, while 6-6 junior forward Zamarius McLendon tallied 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Freshman point guard Clayton Williams came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, while junior swingman Darryn Frazier chipped in 12 points.

Reserve guard Jarrod Branco led Flagler (9-15, 2-14) with 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half, while guard Matt Clark added 13 points.

A jump shot by Turner snapped a 22-22 deadlock as the Patriots took the lead for good.  The margin would stretch to 10 at 39-29 after Evrik Gary converted a pair of free throws with 7:42 left before halftime.  FMU would lead by as many as 11 points in the opening stanza before settling for a 53-44 lead at intermission.

The Patriots committed only one turnover in the first half and connected on 19-of-23 free throws.

Francis Marion opened the second half with a 16-5 spurt, which included 11 points from Wright, to open a 20-point margin at 69-49.  A 12-1 run midway through the second stanza further swelled the advantage to 85-59 with 7:05 left on the clock.  The final score represented the largest lead of the contest.

FMU connected on 17-of-28 field goal attempts for 60.7 percent over the final 20 minutes.

For the game, the Patriots held a 52-37 rebounding advantage and finished 32-of-43 at the foul line, while the Saints were 13-of-23.  Nine of the 10 Patriots who played scored.  FMU also held Flagler to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including a 9-of-40 figure in the second half.

2-18-12 3:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 103, FLAGLER 68

FLAGLER (9-15, 2-14 PBC)
Jarrod Branco 6-12 2-2 16; Matt Clark 3-11 4-6 13; Addison Smith 5-5 0-1 11;
Chad July 4-7 0-1 8; Elijah Hayes 2-4 2-4 7; Ante Gospic 1-7 3-7 6; Ryan
Barnes 1-10 0-0 3; Jordan Warner 0-3 2-2 2; Desmond Gibson 1-6 0-0 2; Jared
Hammock 0-1 0-0 0; Justin Stokes 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-69 13-23 68.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (15-11, 8-8 PBC)
Liki Turner 9-13 7-10 26; Marcus Wright 8-13 0-1 17; Zamarius McLendon 3-9
9-11 15; Clayton Williams 3-4 6-6 14; Darryn Frazier 3-7 5-5 12; Evrik Gary
2-7 4-4 8; Marcel Williams 3-6 1-3 7; Andrew Smith 1-3 0-0 2; Sam Caron 1-1
0-1 2; Maurice Grant 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 33-63 32-43 103.
Halftime: Francis Marion 53 Flagler 44
3-point goals--Flagler 9-29 (Matt Clark 3-7; Jarrod Branco 2-5; Elijah Hayes
1-2; Addison Smith 1-1; Ante Gospic 1-2; Ryan Barnes 1-6; Jared Hammock 0-1;
Justin Stokes 0-1; Desmond Gibson 0-4), Francis Marion University 5-20
(Clayton Williams 2-3; Liki Turner 1-4; Marcus Wright 1-4; Darryn Frazier
1-5; Andrew Smith 0-1; Evrik Gary 0-2; Zamarius McLendon 0-1). Fouled
out--Flagler-Jordan Warner, Francis Marion University-None.
Rebounds--Flagler 37 (Ante Gospic 7), Francis Marion University 52 (Liki
Turner 10). Assists--Flagler 17 (Addison Smith 3; Jarrod Branco 3), Francis
Marion University 19 (Zamarius McLendon 5). Total fouls--Flagler 27, Francis
Marion University 18. Technical fouls--None. A-1589