Box Score BLUEFIELD, WV – Freshman guard Detrek Browning led five players in double figures and Francis Marion University used an early 22-2 run to cruise to a 96-61 win over West Virginia Tech, Friday night (Nov. 28) in the opening game of the Bluefield State College Currence Classic for men's basketball.
The Patriots (4-1), winners of four straight, will face Concord University on the second day of the event, Saturday at 4 p.m. FMU will be chasing its first five-game winning streak since the beginning of the 2010-11 season.
Browning tallied 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while connecting on 8-of-13 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 three-point attempts. Freshman swingman Mike Davis Jr. scored 17 points followed by junior forward Dii'Jon Allen-Jordan with 16, and both junior David Jerome and freshman A.J. Jackson with 10 apiece. Allen-Jordan also blocked five shots and hauled down five rebounds, while Jerome corralled six misses.
"It was as complete a game as I have ever had a team play," said FMU head coach Gary Edwards, who earlier this season captured his 500th career victory. "West Virginia Tech is a good team – a 7-1 record coming in, with their only loss a two-point decision and then an exhibition loss to Marshall – and we completely dominated both ends. It was nice to see some of the guys find their shooting touch."
Jauries Thomas paced WV Tech with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Golden Bears came into the contest averaging 92 points per game.
WV Tech scored the game's first bucket, but that would be its only lead. Francis Marion answered with six straight points to take the lead for good. FMU led 8-6 with 14:30 remaining in the opening half, but the Patriots produced a 22-2 spurt over the next seven minutes to claim a 30-8 advantage.
Francis Marion led 42-23 at halftime.
The Golden Bears crept to with 16 points (45-29) early in the second half, but FMU responded with a 14-5 run that pushed the margin to 25 points at 59-34. The Patriots' largest lead came in the final minute at 96-58 on a layup by senior guard David Brown.
FMU shot 50 from the field in the first half and 56.3 percent over the final 20 minutes. For the game, FMU connected on 12-of-21 three-point attempts and 18-of-21 free throws. The Patriots defense held WV Tech to 39.7 percent shooting, including 5-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Francis Marion also took care of the basketball, committing only five turnovers and holding a 19-2 edge in points-off-turnovers.
11-28-14 5:30 pm at Bluefield, WV
FRANCIS MARION 96, WV TECH 61
WV TECH (7-2)
THOMAS, Jauries 6-12 5-6 17; MARINO, Jaren 4-10 1-2 9; COOPER, JR., Leon 3-8
2-2 8; GORDON, Eddie 3-6 0-0 8; KINCAID, Ra'Shaud 2-5 0-0 6; LIGHT, Nick 2-3
0-0 4; DENNIS, Doug 1-2 0-0 3; SERGEANT, Sharife 1-5 1-1 3; MCNEIL, Nathan
1-3 0-0 2; WILSON, Juwuan 0-4 1-2 1; LAMBERT, Hunter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58
10-13 61.
FRANCIS MARION (4-1)
Detrek Browning 8-13 3-4 23; Mike Davis Jr. 6-13 2-2 17; Dii'Jon
Allen-Jordan 5-11 6-7 16; A.J. Jackson 3-5 2-2 10; David Jerome 5-7 0-0 10;
Luka Zivkovic 3-6 0-0 8; Jay Alexander 1-1 4-4 6; David Brown 1-3 1-2 3;
Trevonte Dixon 1-3 0-0 3; Alex Bryant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-62 18-21 96.
Halftime: Francis Marion 42 WV Tech 23
3-point goals--WV Tech 5-22 (KINCAID, Ra'Shaud 2-4; GORDON, Eddie 2-3;
DENNIS, Doug 1-2; MCNEIL, Nathan 0-2; WILSON, Juwuan 0-2; COOPER, JR., Leon
0-2; MARINO, Jaren 0-3; THOMAS, Jauries 0-4), Francis Marion 12-21 (Detrek
Browning 4-6; Mike Davis Jr. 3-7; Luka Zivkovic 2-3; A.J. Jackson 2-2;
Trevonte Dixon 1-2; David Brown 0-1). Fouled out--WV Tech-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--WV Tech 33 (SERGEANT, Sharife 8; THOMAS, Jauries 8),
Francis Marion 34 (Detrek Browning 7). Assists--WV Tech 10 (MARINO, Jaren
4), Francis Marion 20 (Detrek Browning 6). Total fouls--WV Tech 16, Francis
Marion 14. Technical fouls--None. A-100
