FLORENCE, SC – Junior forward Luka Zivkovic hit two free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime to lift Francis Marion University past Clayton State University 71-68, Monday night (Jan. 20) in Peach Belt Conference men's action.

Francis Marion improves to 7-8 overall and 4-5 in the PBC. The Patriots are in fourth place in the East Division standings.  FMU will conclude its three-game home stand on Saturday afternoon against nationally ranked and conference-leading USC Aiken at 3:30 p.m.

Graduate student Evrik Gary led FMU with 15 points, including seven in the overtime session. Despite being hampered by foul trouble and only logging 23 minutes, he extended his career scoring total to 1,526, eight points of former Patriot guard Jerry Lattimore, who occupies fifth place on the all-time scoring list.

Junior swingman Dustin Jones added 14 points, including four three-pointers, and junior guard Trevonte Dixon registered 11 points and four assists.  Both senior Robert Carpenter and sophomore Mykel Harris scored nine points apiece.

Guard Craig Wong led Clayton State (6-10, 2-7) with 18 points, while senior forward Omari Murray tallied 17 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

Wong drained a pair of three-pointers early in the overtime period to give the Lakers a 64-60 lead.  A pair of Murray free throws with 2:31 left kept the CSU advantage at four, 66-62.  FMU junior 6-10 center Clark Major scored on a layup and Gary hit a three-pointer to erase the deficit and give the Patriots a 67-66 lead with 1:06 remaining.

Wong answered with a layup on the other end to put the Lakers back on top, 68-67, with 40 ticks left.  On the ensuing possession, Gary missed a jumper, but Zivkovic grabbed the offensive rebound.  Gary then missed a three-pointer, but again Zivkovic controlled the offensive glass and this time he was fouled going back up with a stick-back attempt.  He hit both free throws to put the Patriots up 69-68 with 10 seconds remaining.  Wong missed a potential game-winning three-pointer and the long rebound went out of bounds without anyone touching it.  Gary was quickly fouled on the inbounds pass and his two charity tosses sealed the win with 0.9 of a second left.

A 10-0 run by FMU in the latter stages of the first half gave the Patriots a 32-18 advantage.  Minutes later a steal and dunk by Carpenter kept the Francis Marion at 34-21 with 5:07 left before halftime.  FMU would not score again before halftime allowing the Lakers to close to within 34-26 at intermission.

Francis Marion did manage a pair of three-pointers, by Zivkovic and Gary, but Clayton State opened the second half with a 14-6 spurt that knotted the score at 40-40 with 14:47 left.  The Patriots opened a six-point margin (49-43) following a three-pointer by Carpenter with 9:22 remaining, and three minutes later the Patriot lead was still six at 53-47.  However, Clayton State rallied to take a 58-55 lead after a layup by 6-8 center William Asplund with 2:30 on the clock.

Following several empty possessions by both squads, a three-pointer by Gary tied the contest at 58-58 with just over a minute left in regulation.  Clayton State missed a chance to win when Kelsey Terry missed a jumper at :21 and Gary grabbed the rebound.  Carpenter missed a three-pointer from the right corner in the final five seconds and Jones missed a tip-in attempt just before the regulation horn sounded.

It was Francis Marion's first victory over the Lakers in Florence since the end of the 2007-08 season.

Francis Marion connected on 37.1 percent of its field goal attempts, including 10-of-30 three-point attempts, and was 15-of-22 at the foul line.  The Lakers shot an almost identical 36.5 percent, were 8-of-24 from long range, and were 14-of-23 at the stripe.