FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Tyler Deihl scored a career-high equaling 17 points and junior guard Evrik Gary added 16 while reaching a personal milestone as Francis Marion University ground out a 96-53 victory over Johnson & Wales University (N.C.), Wednesday evening (Jan. 30) in non-conference men's basketball action.

Francis Marion improves to 7-9 and will jump back into Peach Belt Conference play this weekend when the Patriots entertain Flagler College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Smith University Center.

Deihl nailed his first five field goal attempts, all from behind the three-point arc, while also handing out six assists.  He set the tone for the night when on the opening possession he lofted an alley-oop pass to Gary, but instead of becoming an assist the ball sailed cleanly through the net for a triple.  His five three-pointers led the Patriots, who improved upon their nation-leading average of 13.9 three-pointers made per game by canning 15 of 43.

Gary, who entered the game with 999 career points, drilled a three-pointer on FMU's third possession to become the 19th Patriot to reach 1,000 career points, and the first since 2004. His 16 points allowed him to pass former Patriot greats Daryl Blume (1,011), Nat Williamson (1,004), and Bob Graziano (1,001) to move into 16th place on the FMU career scoring list with 1,015.  Next up on the list is Chris Mazzella at 1,026.

Gary also led the Patriots with eight rebounds.

Also scoring in double digits for FMU were sophomore Dustin Jones (14), junior Antonio Freeman (12), and sophomore Clayton Williams (12).

Reserve forward Mario Irby registered a double-double for JWU (5-20) with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while guard Taylor Thomas also scored 10.

FMU scored the game's opening eight points and never trailed.  The Wildcats did trim the margin to 14-9 near the 17-minute mark, but a 12-3 spurt by the Patriots expanded the lead to 26-12.  A 19-2 run later in the stanza pushed the advantage to 28 points at 47-19. 

Francis Marion left the floor at halftime with a 63-31 lead, after a layup by point guard Chris Rhodes that just beat the intermission buzzer.

The Patriots shot 60 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes, including a sizzling 11-of-23 from beyond the arc.

Francis Marion led by as many as 46 in the second half and was never threatened.

FMU scored 33 points off 24 Johnson & Wales turnovers.

1/30/13 7 p.m. at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIV. 96, JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY 53

JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY (5-20)
Taylor Thomas 4-9 0-0 10; Mario Irby 4-7 2-10 10; Garth Bailey 3-9 0-0 8;
Robbie Sterling 1-5 2-2 4; Michael Daniel 2-5 0-2 4; Adarius Davis 1-4 2-5
4; Nigel Massey 1-2 2-2 4; Jay Keller 1-1 0-0 3; Kareem Wilson 0-1 2-2 2;
Julian McCants 0-2 2-2 2; Joshua Cohen 1-5 0-0 2; Omar Nuboer 0-3 0-0 0;
Nick Crawford 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 12-25 53.
FRANCIS MARION UNIV. (7-9)
Tyler Deihl 5-8 2-2 17; Evrik Gary 5-14 2-2 16; Dustin Jones 4-11 3-4 14;
Clayton Williams 5-6 0-0 12; Antonio Freeman 6-

6 0-1 12; Robert Carpenter
4-9 0-1 8; Storm Clonch 2-5 0-0 4; Mi'kyel Nero 2-3 0-0 4; Chris Rhodes 2-2
0-0 4; Sam Caron 1-5 0-0 3; Alex Tucker 1-2 0-0 2; AJ Caldwell 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 37-73 7-10 96.
Halftime: Francis Marion 63 Johnson & Wales 31
3-point goals--Johnson & Wales University 5-12 (Taylor Thomas 2-3; Garth
Bailey 2-4; Jay Keller 1-1; Nigel Massey 0-1; Kareem Wilson 0-1; Julian
McCants 0-1; Joshua Cohen 0-1), Francis Marion Univ. 15-43 (Tyler Deihl 5-8;
Evrik Gary 4-10; Dustin Jones 3-10; Clayton Williams 2-3; Sam Caron 1-4; AJ
Caldwell 0-2; Storm Clonch 0-2; Robert Carpenter 0-4). Fouled out--Johnson &
Wales University-None, Francis Marion Univ.-None. Rebounds--Johnson & Wales
University 40 (Mario Irby 11), Francis Marion Univ. 47 (Evrik Gary 8).
Assists--Johnson & Wales University 14 (Taylor Thomas 4), Francis Marion
Univ. 29 (Tyler Deihl 6; Chris Rhodes 6). Total fouls--Johnson & Wales
University 14, Francis Marion 20. Technical fouls--Cohen. A-1003

           Evrik Gary