FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Robert Carpenter keyed a near-perfect overtime session with a pair of steals on defense as Francis Marion University outlasted Armstrong Atlantic State University 92-82, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

The Patriots snap a four-game skid and earn their first conference win of the season while improving to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the PBC.  The Patriots will play a pair of conference road games this week: Friday night at Columbus State University and Sunday afternoon at Georgia Southwestern State University.  The next home game for FMU will be Jan. 18 against the University of Montevallo.

Graduate student Evrik Gary led Francis Marion with 27 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.  The 6-3 guard hit on 6-of-8 field goal attempts and 12-of-16 free throws, while upping his career point total to 1,435 – just 20 points shy of ninth place on the career scoring list.

Junior swingman Dustin Jones scored 17, including 11 in overtime, while junior guard Trevonte Dixon tallied 15 points (one off his career high) and junior forward Mykel Harris registered 12 points and a game-high and career-high equaling nine rebounds.

Junior guard Emmanuel Tiluscar led the Pirates (5-6, 2-2) with 26 points, while Kenny Bellinger II added 13 points and Eric Eversley and Kyle Callanan 10 apiece.  Callanan handed out nine assists.

In the extra session, FMU connected on the only two field goal attempts it put up, including one three-pointer, and was 19-of-20 at the foul line, while committing only two turnovers.  The 24 points were one marker shy of the school record for points in an overtime (25) set against Newberry College on a snowy Jan. 14, 1978.

Two free throws by Gary with 2:08 left in overtime gave the Patriots the lead for good at 75-74. On the ensuing possession, Carpenter came up with a steal that resulted in a fast-break three-pointer by Jones.  Following a bucket by Tiluscar from beyond the arc that trimmed the margin to 78-77, Carpenter converted a pair of charity tosses to put FMU up 80-77. 

Carpenter then tipped away an Armstrong pass for his second steal and Jones drove in and converted a layup and the Pirates were whistled for an intentional foul.  Jones drained both free throws putting FMU ahead 84-77 and then Gary was fouled and hit two more free throws for a six-point possession and an 86-77 advantage.

An 11-3 run midway through the first half gave Francis Marion an 18-9 lead.  The Pirates pulled to within 20-16 and later trailed only by five (29-24) with 4:23 remaining before halftime.  FMU closed the stanza with a 15-4 spurt – hitting its final five field goal attempts – to lead 44-28 at intermission.

Full-court pressure by Armstrong forced 14 FMU turnovers in the second half that the Pirates turned into 16 points.   Francis Marion led 49-34 with 14:38 left, but Armstrong responded with a 17-4 run that cut the deficit to 53-51.  FMU answered with five straight points to go up 58-51, but a 12-4 spurt by Armstrong lifted the Pirates into a 63-62 lead.

A three-pointer by Tiluscar with 39 ticks left gave Armstrong a 68-67 advantage, but Gary hit one of two free throws with 25.2 seconds on the clock to deadlock the contest at 68-68.  Armstrong had a chance to win in regulation, but a long three-pointer by Callanan was no good and the horn sounded sending the game into overtime.

FMU outrebounded the Pirates 45-31 and held Armstrong to 37.8 percent shooting for the game.

1-4-14 3:40 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 92, ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 82 OT
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (5-6 , 2-2 PBC)
Emmanuel Tiluscar 7-15 9-12 26; Kenny Bellinger II 4-12 2-2 13; Kyle
Callanan 3-10 3-4 10; Eric Eversley 4-7 1-2 10; Hichem BenayadCherif 4-13
1-1 9; Montel Baines 2-7 0-0 4; Carlos Brown 1-4 0-0 3; Kelcey Walker 1-3
1-1 3; Darius Morales 1-2 0-0 2; Shema Sabiiti 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-74 17-22
82.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (4-6 , 1-3 PBC)
Evrik Gary 6-8 12-16 27; Dustin Jones 3-9 9-10 17; Trevonte Dixon 5-7 3-4
15; Mykel Harris 4-6 4-4 12; Robert Carpenter 1-9 5-7 8; Luka Zivkovic 3-10
0-0 8; Clark Major 2-3 1-4 5; Alex Bryant 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Deihl 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 24-52 34-45 92.
Halftime: Francis Marion 44 Armstrong Atlantic 28 ; Regulation: 68-68
3-point goals--Armstrong Atlantic 9-31 (Emmanuel Tiluscar 3-6; Kenny
Bellinger II 3-8; Eric Eversley 1-1; Kyle Callanan 1-7; Carlos Brown 1-2;
Kelcey Walker 0-1; Hichem BenayadCherif 0-6), Francis Marion University
10-22 (Evrik Gary 3-4; Luka Zivkovic 2-5; Dustin Jones 2-4; Trevonte Dixon
2-4; Robert Carpenter 1-5). Fouled out--Armstrong Atlantic-Carlos Brown;
Darius Morales; Kenny Bellinger II, Francis Marion University-Trevonte
Dixon. Rebounds--Armstrong Atlantic 31 (Eric Eversley 8), Francis Marion
University 45 (Mykel Harris 9). Assists--Armstrong Atlantic 20 (Kyle
Callanan 9), Francis Marion University 16 (Evrik Gary 5). Total
fouls--Armstrong Atlantic 31, Francis Marion University 22. Technical
fouls--Montel Baines. A-577.