Box Score MONTEVALLO, AL – Francis Marion University, the nation's top three-point shooting team, connected on 10-of-19 long range shots in the second half, but the rally fell just short as the University of Montevallo hung on for an 83-72 win over the Patriots, Saturday evening (Jan. 19) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.
Francis Marion (5-8, 1-6) will play at Clayton State University on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. as the Patriots continue a three-game PBC road swing.
Junior Evrik Gary paced FMU with 22 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Dustin Jones scored 18 points and junior guard Tyler Deihl added a career-high 17 points. Deihl was 5-of-7 from three-point range.
Troran Brown led Montevallo (10-5, 6-2), last season's Division II national runners-up, with 30 points, while Drico Hightower tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds.
FMU took a 2-0 lead on a bucket by sophomore guard Clayton Williams, but the Falcons scored the game's next five points and never trailed again. The margin was only one, at 7-6, but Montevallo scored 12 straight points as part of a 20-4 run that gave the Falcons a 27-10 advantage.
Montevallo led by as many as 19 points in the opening stanza before settling for a 42-27 margin at halftime. FMU managed only 5-of-20 from three-point range over the opening 20 minutes.
The Patriots' long-range shooting warmed up in the second stanza. A three-pointer by Jones closed the deficit to 55-43 with 14:07 left. FMU followed that with a trio of triples – by Chris Rhodes, Robert Carpenter, and Gary – to close to within three points at 59-56 with 9:10 remaining in the contest.
Montevallo responded with a 9-2 spurt that pushed the lead back to double digits with six minutes on the clock. The Patriots would later cut the margin to seven points on three occasions, but that would be as close as FMU would get.
The Patriots ended the game shooting 35 percent from the floor, including the 15-of-39 from deep, and 17-of-20 at the foul line. Montevallo canned 55 percent of its field goal attempts.
1/19/13 3:30 p.m. at BankTrust Arena (Montevallo, Ala.)
MONTEVALLO 83, FRANCIS MARION 72
FMU (5-8 , 1-6 PBC)
Evrik Gary 5-10 9-9 22; Dustin Jones 5-15 4-7 18; Tyler Deihl 5-8 2-2 17;
Chris Rhodes 2-7 2-2 7; Clayton Williams 2-9 0-0 5; Robert Carpenter 1-3 0-0
3; Storm Clonch 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Tucker 0-0 0-0 0; Antonio Freeman 0-5 0-0 0;
Mi'Kyel Nero 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 17-20 72.
UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO (10-5 (6-2 PBC))
Troran Brown 12-18 2-4 30; Drico Hightower 7-10 9-12 23; Travis DeShazior
4-6 0-0 10; Marvin Fitzgerald 3-7 1-2 7; Danny Cummins 2-4 0-0 6; Ryan May
2-8 0-0 5; Silas Mills 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 31-56 12-18 83.
Halftime: Montevallo 42 FMU 27
3-point goals--FMU-M 15-39 (Tyler Deihl 5-7; Dustin Jones 4-11; Evrik Gary
3-6; Robert Carpenter 1-3; Clayton Williams 1-7; Chris Rhodes 1-4; Antonio
Freeman 0-1), University of Montevallo 9-19 (Troran Brown 4-8; Travis
DeShazior 2-3; Danny Cummins 2-4; Ryan May 1-4). Fouled out--FMU-M-None,
University of Montevallo-None. Rebounds--FMU-M 30 (Clayton Williams 7; Evrik
Gary 7; Antonio Freeman 7), University of Montevallo 37 (Drico Hightower
13). Assists--FMU-M 12 (Antonio Freeman 4), University of Montevallo 18
(Marvin Fitzgerald 4; Troran Brown 4). Total fouls--FMU-M 15, University of
Montevallo 13. Technical fouls--Chris Rhodes, Troran Brown. A-340
