FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University managed only one made field goal over a seven-minute span in the second half and Columbus State University capitalized on the power-outage to claim an 83-72 victory, Thursday night (Jan. 10) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

Francis Marion (4-7, 0-5) will play the second game in a three-game home stand when the Patriots play host to Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Smith University Center.

Junior guard Evrik Gary, who recently surpassed 900 career points, led FMU with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.  Sophomore swingman Dustin Jones added 17 points, with 14 of his markers coming in the game's opening six minutes.

Reigning PBC Player of the Week Rory Miller paced the Cougars (7-5, 2-3) with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while guards Idell Bell and Jahmad Saleem chipped in 12 and 11 points respectively.

Jones' hot-shooting start helped stake the Patriots to an 18-5 lead just six minutes into the game.  A three-pointer by Gary gave FMU a 21-9 advantage, and following a three-pointer by guard Tyler Deihl, the Patriots led 24-14 with 12:03 left in the first half.

Columbus State responded with a 16-2 run that erased the Patriot lead and put the Cougars on top 30-26.  CSU went to the locker room at intermission holding a 38-34 advantage.

Francis Marion regained the lead early in the second stanza at 43-41 on a three-pointer by Jones.

An offensive stick-back by freshman forward Storm Clonch with 11:30 remaining gave the Patriots their final advantage at 53-52.  Only a layup by guard Chris Rhodes and two free throws each by Antonio Freeman and Gary interrupted a 20-6 Cougars' spurt that put CSU ahead to stay.  Francis Marion missed eight of nine shots and committed four turnovers during the decisive seven-minute span.

Francis Marion shot 33.8 percent from the floor for the game, while CSUI connected on 46.9 percent, including 65 percent over the final 15 minutes.  The Patriots connected on 15-of-18 free throws and were 9-of-37 from beyond the three-point arc.

1/10/13 7:40 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
COLUMBUS STATE UNIV. 83, FRANCIS MARION UNIV. 72

COLUMBUS STATE UNIV. (7-5 , 2-3 PBC)
Rory Miller 7-13 5-6 21; Idell Bell 3-8 4-6 12; Jahmad Saleem 5-6 1-3 11;
Dimitri Davis 4-7 1-2 9; Nick Turner 3-7 1-2 7; Aj Shepherd 2-3 1-1 6;
Darius Page 1-1 3-6 5; Adam McLeod 2-4 0-0 5; Winford Ivey 2-5 0-0 4;
Jermaine Morgan 1-2 1-2 3; Aaron Power 0-0 0-0 0; Bj Battle 0-8 0-0 0.
Totals 30-64 17-28 83.
FRANCIS MARION UNIV. (4-7 , 0-5 PBC)
Evrik Gary 5-10 7-8 19; Dustin Jones 5-13 2-3 17; Nequan Melvin 4-7 1-2 9;
Clayton Williams 3-7 1-1 7; Chris Rhodes 2-4 0-0 4; Mi'Kyel Nero 1-5 2-2 4;
Antonio Freeman 1-7 2-2 4; Tyler Deihl 1-2 0-0 3; Robert Carpenter 1-9 0-0
3; Storm Clonch 1-3 0-0 2; Alex Tucker 0-1 0-0 0; Cameron Lee 0-2 0-0 0; Sam
Caron 0-1 0-0 0; AJ Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-71 15-18 72.
Halftime: Columbus State 38 Francis Marion 34
3-point goals--Columbus State Univ. 6-27 (Idell Bell 2-6; Rory Miller 2-7;
Aj Shepherd 1-2; Adam McLeod 1-3; Winford Ivey 0-2; Bj Battle 0-5; Nick
Turner 0-1; Jahmad Saleem 0-1), Francis Marion Univ. 9-37 (Dustin Jones 5-9;
Evrik Gary 2-6; Robert Carpenter 1-6; Tyler Deihl 1-2; Antonio Freeman 0-3;
Storm Clonch 0-2; Cameron Lee 0-2; Sam Caron 0-1; Chris Rhodes 0-2; Clayton
Williams 0-4). Fouled out--Columbus State Univ.-None, Francis Marion
Univ.-None. Rebounds--Columbus State Univ. 41 (Rory Miller 12), Francis
Marion Univ. 40 (Clayton Williams 7; Robert Carpenter 7). Assists--Columbus
State Univ. 17 (Rory Miller 3; Darius Page 3), Francis Marion Univ. 16
(Clayton Williams 6). Total fouls--Columbus State Univ. 16, Francis Marion
Univ. 22. Technical fouls--None. A-986