Box Score BANNER ELK, NC – Forward Phillip Brown capped a perfect afternoon at the free throw line with a pair of charity tosses with four seconds left to lift North Greenville University to a 90-89 come-from-behind win over Francis Marion University, Saturday (Nov. 23) in men's basketball action as part of the Americourt Classic at Lees-McRae College.
Francis Marion, which falls to 2-1, will open Peach Belt Conference play on Monday, Dec. 2, when the Patriots host Georgia College at 7:30 p.m.
Junior swingman Dustin Jones led FMU with 22 points, including a 5-for-7 effort beyond the three-point arc. Graduate student Evrik Gary tallied 21 points, a career-high nine assists, four steals, and four rebounds before fouling out. He was 4-of-5 from long range and with 1,292 career points moved to within three points of tying former Patriot guard John Schantz for 12th place on the FMU all-time list.
FMU junior forward Mykel Harris came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and he also pulled down five rebounds.
Guard Micah Parker led North Greenville (5-2) with 23 points, while Brown added 21 points, and guard Chris Dean 20. Brown was 10-of-10 at the foul line and also hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
North Greenville had possession of the ball with 43 seconds remaining and the score knotted at 88-88. FMU junior guard Trevonte Dixon came up with a steal and was fouled in the act of shooting with 13 ticks left. He converted one of the two free throws to put the Patriots up 89-88, but on the ensuing possession Brown was fouled in the paint with three seconds on the clock setting the stage for his winning tosses. FMU's Tyler Deihl missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
Francis Marion broke a 25-25 first-half deadlock with a 19-2 run that included seven points by Gary. The Patriots led 52-39 at halftime.
The FMU advantage was 15 points (74-59) at the midway point of the second stanza following a three-pointer by Jones. The Crusaders then rallied with a 21-4 spurt to go ahead 80-78 following a three-pointer by Dean with 3:57 remaining.
FMU shot a even 50 percent from the floor, including 14-of-25 from three-point range. However, the Patriots were only 9-of-16 at the foul line, while North Greenville was 24-of-27, including a perfect 17-of-17 in the second half..
11-23-13 2:00 pm at Banner Elk, N.C. (Williams Gymnasium)
NORTH GREENVILLE 90, FRANCIS MARION 89
NORTH GREENVILLE (5-2)
Micah Parker 7-16 8-9 23; Phillip Brown 5-10 10-10 21; Chris Dean 9-13 0-2
20; Keith Johnson 6-17 4-4 18; Patrick George 2-7 0-0 6; Thomas Horn 0-3 2-2
2; Troy Blyden 0-0 0-0 0; Jai Jencks 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 29-69 24-27 90.
FRANCIS MARION (2-1)
Dustin Jones 8-13 1-3 22; Evrik Gary 7-13 3-4 21; Mykel Harris 7-14 4-5 19;
Robert Carpenter 4-8 0-2 9; Clark Major 4-6 0-0 8; Trevonte Dixon 2-3 1-2 7;
Tyler Deihl 1-8 0-0 3; Luka Zivkovic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-66 9-16 89.
Halftime: Francis Marion 52 North Greenville 39
3-point goals--North Greenville 8-27 (Chris Dean 2-3; Keith Johnson 2-7;
Patrick George 2-7; Phillip Brown 1-2; Micah Parker 1-7; Thomas Horn 0-1),
Francis Marion 14-25 (Dustin Jones 5-7; Evrik Gary 4-5; Trevonte Dixon 2-2;
Mykel Harris 1-2; Robert Carpenter 1-3; Tyler Deihl 1-6). Fouled out--North
Greenville-None, Francis Marion-Evrik Gary. Rebounds--North Greenville 43
(Phillip Brown 12), Francis Marion 35 (Tyler Deihl 6). Assists--North
Greenville 12 (Patrick George 6), Francis Marion 22 (Evrik Gary 9). Total
fouls--North Greenville 17, Francis Marion 20. Technical fouls--None. A-417
