SALISBURY, NC - Francis Marion University led wire-to-wire to garner a 61-53 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University, Saturday night (Nov. 15) on the final day of the Peach Belt Conference-South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Challenge. The win gives FMU head coach Gary Edwards his 500th career triumph.

Francis Marion evens its record at 1-1.  The Patriots will play their home opener on Thursday when they entertain Florida College for a 7 p.m. tip-off in the Smith University Center.

Edwards' 31-year career mark now stands at 500-367, with 111 of the victories coming on the Patriot sidelines.  His first coaching win came on Nov. 16, 1984, when Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) defeated UNC Greensboro 79-66 in overtime.

Redshirt freshman Detrek Browning led the Patriot attack again with 25 points and six steals, while junior forward David Jerome posted his first FMU double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 boards.

Junior guard Will Perry was the only Lenoir-Rhyne (0-2) player in double figures, scoring 22 points.

FMU scored the game's first five points and held Lenoir-Rhyne scoreless for the first 3:17 of the contest.

The Patriots enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the first period. A three-point bucket by senior swingman Trevonte Dixon gave FMU its largest upper hand at 22-7.

Lenoir-Rhyne slowly clawed its way back into the contest thanks to a 9-0 spurt that trimmed the FMU advantage to 42-39 with 9:55 left. A Perry three-pointer with 3:27 remaining sliced the margin to two, 47-45, but the Bears would get no closer. A late dunk by Jerome and timely free-throw shooting by Browning and senior guard David Brown helped put the Bears to sleep.

For the second consecutive night, FMU outrebounded its opponent, this time 40-39. The Patriots also forced 20 Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers, scoring 16 points off Bear giveaways.