FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Evrik Gary scored a career-high 35 points to lead Francis Marion University to a well-rounded 105-80 Peach Belt Conference win over Young Harris College, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16) in men's basketball action.

With its sixth win in the last 10 outings, Francis Marion improves to 10-11 overall and 5-9 in the PBC, one-and-a-half games out of the all-important fourth position in the East Division standings.  The top four teams from division qualify for the conference tournament.

Gary connected on 13-of-20 shots, including 6-of-11 three-point attempts, while playing all but a few seconds before the Homecoming crowd of 1,389.  His point total was only five shy of the FMU single-game mark of 40 set by Hank Foster against Coker College in 1984, but Gary did pushed his career total to 1,121.

Four other Patriots also scored in double figures: junior Robert Carpenter 18, sophomore Clayton Williams 12, senior Mi'kyel Nero 10, and sophomore Dustin Jones 10.  Carpenter also hauled down a career-high and game-high eight rebounds coming off the Patriot bench.  FMU junior point guard Chris Rhodes scored six points, but also handed out 10 assists as Francis Marion registered 32 assists on its 38 baskets.

Junior guard Vince Martin registered a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists to lead Young Harris (15-8, 10-6).  Senior guard Malcolm Jackson scored 17 points and both Frank Adams and Tony Raymond added 16 points apiece.

Francis Marion received 41 points from its bench, while the Mountain Lion reserves tallied only six.  The Patriots also committed only seven turnovers in the fast-paced game and led 16-8 in points-off-turnovers and 31-8 in fast-break points.  Despite not playing anyone standing over 6-5, and while connecting on 16 three-pointers, Francis Marion also held a 42-28 advantage in points-in-the-paint.  FMU outrebounded the Mountain Lions 42-31.

Young Harris opened the game with a trio of three-pointers to lead 9-0.  A pair of free throws by Rhodes drew the Patriots to within 28-26 just past the midway point of the opening half.  Trailing 38-30, Francis Marion closed the first stanza with an 18-3 spurt over the final 5:15 to take a 48-41 lead at intermission.

A three-pointer by Gary extended the margin to 11 points (67-56) with 14:43 remaining, but the Mountain Lions gradually crept closer as the Patriots' outside shooting went cold.  A layup by Adams cut the FMU lead to one point at 71-70 with 10:31 left on the clock. 

On the ensuing possession, Gary answered with a three-pointer, and a minute later, Jones drained another triple to extend the Patriot advantage back to 77-70.  Young Harris cut the lead to four points (79-75) on a jump shot by Martin, but FMU responded by scoring the game's next 15 points, including five each by Gary and Carpenter, to grab a commanding 94-75 lead.

Gary's fast-break alley-oop dunk off a feed from Rhodes in the final 10 seconds accounted for the largest margin (25 points) and send the alumni crowd home happy.

After allowing Young Harris to shot 51.9 percent over the opening 20 minutes, FMU held the Mountain Lions to only 46.9 percent shooting in the second half.  FMU also connected on a sizzling 59.5 percent of its own shots in the second stanza, hitting on 22 of 37 attempts, including 10-of-21 from behind the three-point arc.

2/16/13 3:50 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIV. 105, YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE 80

YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE (15-8 , 10-6 PBC)
Vince Martin 8-17 0-3 18; Malcolm Jackson 7-16 0-0 17; Tony Raymond 5-9 6-8
16; Frank Adams 4-6 8-13 16; Andrew Reid 3-6 0-0 7; Michael Matta 2-5 0-0 6;
Philip Uys 0-0 0-0 0; Avery Knutson 0-0 0-0 0; Jacob Blalock 0-0 0-0 0; Sean
Preston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 14-24 80.
FRANCIS MARION UNIV. (10-11 , 5-9 PBC)
Evrik Gary 13-20 3-5 35; Robert Carpenter 7-10 0-0 18; Clayton Williams 3-8
4-4 12; Dustin Jones 4-12 0-0 10; Mi'kyel Nero 5-7 0-0 10; Sam Caron 3-4 0-0
7; Chris Rhodes 1-5 4-4 6; Tyler Deihl 2-7 0-0 5; Antonio Freeman 0-1 2-2 2.
Totals 38-74 13-15 105.
Halftime: Francis Marion 48 Young Harris 41
3-point goals--Young Harris College 8-18 (Malcolm Jackson 3-7; Vince Martin
2-4; Michael Matta 2-4; Andrew Reid 1-2; Frank Adams 0-1), Francis Marion
Univ. 16-40 (Evrik Gary 6-11; Robert Carpenter 4-7; Dustin Jones 2-9;
Clayton Williams 2-6; Sam Caron 1-2; Tyler Deihl 1-4; Chris Rhodes 0-1).
Fouled out--Young Harris College-None, Francis Marion Univ.-None.
Rebounds--Young Harris College 31 (Frank Adams 7), Francis Marion Univ. 42
(Robert Carpenter 8). Assists--Young Harris College 18 (Vince Martin 10),
Francis Marion Univ. 32 (Chris Rhodes 10). Total fouls--Young Harris College
16, Francis Marion Univ. 18. Technical fouls--Michael Matta. A-189

Homecoming 2013 ; Charges drawn: Carpenter, Deihl, Williams