Box Score SAVANNAH, GA – Despite a season-high 24 points from junior swingman Dustin Jones, the Francis Marion University men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak snapped with an 84-73 loss at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Thursday night (Jan. 16) in Peach Belt Conference action.
FMU (6-7, 3-4) will begin a three-game home stand on Saturday afternoon when the Patriots entertain the University of Montevallo for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.
Jones hit on 8-of-14 field goal attempts, including 5-of-8 shots from beyond the three-point arc, before fouling out. Graduate student Evrik Gary added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The 6-3 Camden native passed former Patriot forward Patrick Callaway to claim sixth place on the FMU all-time scoring list with 1,488 points. Junior forward Luka Zivkovic continued his recent strong play with 11 points, his third straight double-figure outing.
Hichem BenayadCherif led five Armstrong (6-8, 3-4) Pirates in double figures with 18 points.
FMU never led in the game and was tied only once, at 3-3 in the early going. A three-pointer by junior Trevonte Dixon cut the deficit to 13-12 and later a three-point play by senior Robert Carpenter again brought the Patriots to within one point of the lead, 21-20 with 9:20 left in the opening half.
Armstrong responded with seven straight points to lead 28-21 and the Pirates would eventually leave the floor at intermission holding a 39-31 advantage.
The Pirates opened the second stanza with a 16-5 spurt to stretch the margin to 19 points, 55-36. FMU rallied to within 11 points at 59-48 after a three-pointer by Gary with 10:05 remaining, but the Pirates answered with eight consecutive points. The lead reached 21 points, 73-52, after back-to-back three-pointers by BenayadCherif.
A late 13-6 run by Francis Marion to close the game cut the final margin to 11 points.
FMU shot 34.4 percent from the floor, including 13-of-29 from three-point range, and was 16-of-19 at the foul line. Armstrong hit 43.8 percent of its shots, including 7-of-20 long-range shots, and 7-of-12 free throws, but the Pirates held a 57-35 rebounding advantage.
1-16-14 7:30 pm at Savannah, GA
ARMSTRONG 84, FRANCIS MARION 73
FRANCIS MARION (6-7, 3-4 PBC)
Dustin Jones 8-14 3-4 24; Evrik Gary 3-10 8-8 17; Luka Zivkovic 4-9 0-0 11;
Clark Major 2-6 2-4 6; Robert Carpenter 2-13 1-1 6; Trevonte Dixon 2-4 0-0
5; Mykel Harris 1-6 0-0 2; Lepreece Lynch 0-0 2-2 2; Sam Caron 0-1 0-0 0;
Tyler Deihl 0-0 0-0 0; David Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 16-19 73.
ARMSTRONG (6-8, 3-4 PBC)
BenayadCherif,Hichem 7-15 0-0 18; Morales,Darius 6-10 2-3 14; Eversley,Eric
5-10 3-6 13; Bellinger II,Kenny 5-9 0-0 13; Baines,Montel 6-9 0-0 12;
Tiluscar,Emmanuel 2-13 0-0 4; Sabiiti,Shema 2-3 0-0 4; Callanan,Kyle 1-2 2-3
4; Walker,Kelcey 1-9 0-0 2; Brown,Carlos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-80 7-12 84.
Halftime: Armstrong 39 Francis Marion 31
3-point goals--Francis Marion 13-29 (Dustin Jones 5-8; Evrik Gary 3-4; Luka
Zivkovic 3-6; Trevonte Dixon 1-2; Robert Carpenter 1-6; Sam Caron 0-1; Mykel
Harris 0-2), Armstrong 7-20 (BenayadCherif,Hichem 4-8; Bellinger II,Kenny
3-7; Eversley,Eric 0-1; Tiluscar,Emmanuel 0-2; Callanan,Kyle 0-1;
Walker,Kelcey 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Dustin Jones, Armstrong-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 35 (Evrik Gary 7), Armstrong 57 (Eversley,Eric 9).
Assists--Francis Marion 8 (Trevonte Dixon 5), Armstrong 24 (Callanan,Kyle
11). Total fouls--Francis Marion 14, Armstrong 16. Technical fouls--Francis
Marion-None, Armstrong-Morales,Darius. A-465
