FLORENCE, SC – Despite a milestone day by graduate student Evrik Gary, Francis Marion University could not pull off a second-half rally and the Patriots fell at the hands of 13th-ranked USC Aiken 91-73, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25) in Peach Belt Conference men's action.

Even with the loss, Francis Marion (7-9, 4-6) remains in fourth place in the East Division standings. The Patriots' next three contests are against teams below them in the divisional standings, beginning with a Thursday night road trip to UNC Pembroke for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.  The next home game for FMU will be Feb. 6 against that same UNCP squad.

Gary scored a team-high 20 points and in the process passed former Patriot guard Jerry Lattimore for fifth place on the FMU all-time scoring list.  Now with 1,546 points, the Camden native will pursue Terance Wood for fourth place at 1,569.

Senior forward Robert Carpenter came off the Patriot bench to score 13 points and reserve center Mykel Harris added 12 points.  Senior swingman Dustin Jones scored 10 points, while junior guard Trevonte Dixon tallied five points, six rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists.

Senior Jessie Seilern led USCA (17-2, 9-0) with 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while DeVontae Wright scored 17, Paul Larsen 16, and Rick Alderman 15.  The Pacers have won their last 12 games.

USCA scored the game's first four points and raced to a 16-2 lead as Francis Marion missed six of its first seven field goal attempts.  The margin reached 21-6 before a Dixon three-pointer and back-to-back dunks by Jones and Harris sparked a 22-5 FMU run that gave the Patriots their first lead of the game, 28-26, with 5:09 left before halftime.

With Francis Marion clinging to a 31-30 advantage, the Pacers ran off 10 straight points and carried a 40-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.

A three-pointer by FMU junior Luka Zivkovic knotted the contest at 42-42 just 1:25 into the second stanza.  USCA responded with the next five points and never trailed again.  A 12-0 run by the Pacers extended their lead to 63-46 with 11:01 left, but the Patriots whittled the margin back under double digits at 67-58 following a layup by Gary with 7:33 showing on the clock.

That would be as close as FMU would get.  The final margin equaled the Pacers' largest lead of the game.

Francis Marion shot 42.6 percent from the field, including 10-of-27 from three-point range and 11-of-14 at the foul line.  USCA shot 63.5 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 66.7 percent over the final 20 minutes.  The Pacers also made 19-of-23 free throws and scored 50 of their 91 in the paint.

1-25-14 3:50 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
#13 USC AIKEN 91, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 73
USC AIKEN (#13  17-2 , 9-0)
Jesse Seilern 7-12 4-5 20; DeVontae Wright 6-8 4-5 17; Paul Larsen 7-9 2-3
16; Rick Alderman 4-5 7-8 15; Ronald Zimmerman 3-5 0-0 8; Santoine Butler
3-6 0-0 7; Alvin Brown 3-6 0-0 6; Hendrix Emu 0-0 2-2 2; Derrick Scott 0-0
0-0 0; Grant Harris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-52 19-23 91.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (7-9 , 4-6 PBC)
Evrik Gary 5-18 8-8 20; Robert Carpenter 5-7 1-2 13; Mykel Harris 6-7 0-0
12; Dustin Jones 3-8 2-2 10; Luka Zivkovic 3-8 0-0 9; Trevonte Dixon 2-10
0-2 5; Clark Major 2-3 0-0 4; Lepreece Lynch 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Bryant 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 26-61 11-14 73.
Halftime: USC Aiken 40 Francis Marion 36
3-point goals--USC Aiken 6-14 (Ronald Zimmerman 2-3; Jesse Seilern 2-5;
DeVontae Wright 1-2; Santoine Butler 1-3; Grant Harris 0-1), Francis Marion
University 10-27 (Luka Zivkovic 3-7; Evrik Gary 2-5; Dustin Jones 2-6;
Robert Carpenter 2-4; Trevonte Dixon 1-5). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None,
Francis Marion University-Robert Carpenter; Mykel Harris. Rebounds--USC
Aiken 33 (Paul Larsen 8), Francis Marion University 24 (Clark Major 7).
Assists--USC Aiken 20 (Jesse Seilern 6; DeVontae Wright 6), Francis Marion
University 14 (Trevonte Dixon 10). Total fouls--USC Aiken 13, Francis Marion
University 21. Technical fouls--USC Aiken-Santoine Butler, Francis Marion
University-Lepreece Lynch. A-904