FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore swingman Larrentis Thomas scored 13 second-half points to help lead a Georgia College rally as the Bobcats defeated Francis Marion University 71-60, Monday night (Dec. 2) in the Peach Belt Conference opener for both squads.

The Francis Marion men see their overall record evened at 2-2, while Georgia College improves to 3-1 overall.  FMU will now break for exams before returning to action on Dec. 12 with a road contest at Bluefield State College in West Virginia.

Junior guard Trevonte Dixon paced the Patriots with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while junior swingman Dustin Jones scored 11 – all in the opening half – and graduate student Evrik Gary tallied 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 

With a pair of second-half free throws, Gary moved into 12th place on the FMU career scoring list, passing former Patriot guard John Schantz.  Gary now has 1,303 career points, 27 points shy of former Patriot All-American, FMU Hall of Fame member, and current Florence-area physician Dr. Robert Moore who occupies 11th position.

Sophomore Terrell Harris led Georgia College with 21 points and nine rebounds, while reserve forward Robert Armstrong added 12 points off the Bobcat bench.  Thomas also hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

FMU came out firing and held a 26-20 lead after a three-pointer by Jones with 7:46 left before halftime.  The lead stretched to seven points, 32-25, following a three-pointer by senior guard Tyler Deihl with 2:35 on the clock.

Georgia College closed the opening stanza with a 7-2 spurt to close to within 34-32 at intermission.

The momentum swing continued into the second half as Georgia College scored eight of the first 10 points to assume a 40-36 advantage.  An 8-2 run by Francis Marion pushed the Patriots back ahead 50-45 after a three-pointer by Dixon near the midway point of the half.

Four minutes later, Georgia College put together a 10-1 run that gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 62-54.

FMU was held to 27.6 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes, including just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.  The Bobcats hit 20-of-26 free throws for the game compared to FMU's 11-of-18.  Georgia College committed only six turnovers. 

12-2-13 7:50 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
GEORGIA COLLEGE 71, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 60
GEORGIA COLLEGE (3-1 (1-0 PBC))
Terrell Harris 9-26 1-1 21; Larrentis Thomas 4-9 5-8 13; Robert Armstrong
5-10 2-2 12; Royal Thomas 2-4 5-7 9; Aaron Robinson 2-8 3-4 7; Matt Polyne
1-4 0-0 3; David Wagner 1-3 0-0 2; Alex Reid 0-0 2-2 2; Ryan Blumenthal 0-2
2-2 2; Kelvin Nwanze 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-69 20-26 71.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (2-2 (0-1 PBC))
Trevonte Dixon 6-8 2-2 16; Dustin Jones 4-9 0-0 11; Evrik Gary 3-10 5-6 11;
Clark Major 3-6 1-4 7; Robert Carpenter 2-8 2-4 6; Luka Zivkovic 1-8 0-0 3;
Mykel Harris 1-4 1-2 3; Tyler Deihl 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 21-57 11-18 60.
Halftime: Francis Marion 34 Georgia College 32
3-point goals--Georgia College 3-17 (Terrell Harris 2-8; Matt Polyne 1-4;
Royal Thomas 0-1; Aaron Robinson 0-1; David Wagner 0-1; Ryan Blumenthal
0-2), Francis Marion University 7-28 (Dustin Jones 3-7; Trevonte Dixon 2-4;
Luka Zivkovic 1-7; Tyler Deihl 1-3; Robert Carpenter 0-3; Evrik Gary 0-4).
Fouled out--Georgia College-None, Francis Marion University-Trevonte Dixon.
Rebounds--Georgia College 44 (Larrentis Thomas 11), Francis Marion
University 41 (Evrik Gary 8). Assists--Georgia College 16 (Royal Thomas 7),
Francis Marion University 15 (Clark Major 4). Total fouls--Georgia College
15, Francis Marion University 21. Technical fouls--Georgia College-None,
Francis Marion University-Clark Major. A-992
Charges drawn: Armstrong, Carpenter