CENTRAL, SC – Junior guard Alante Fenner's 19 points led five Patriots in double figures as Francis Marion University built a large second-half lead and then held off a late Southern Wesleyan University rally to claim a 90-85 non-conference win, Wednesday evening (Nov. 18) in men's basketball action.

FMU (2-1) will play host to Piedmont International University on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Smith University Center.

Fenner also tallied seven rebounds and four assists.  Sophomore 6-7 forward Judah Alexander recorded career highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds coming off the Patriot bench, while sophomore point guard Detrek Browning chipped in 15 points and six assists.  Sophomore swingman A.J. Jackson added 12 points and senior forward Mykel Harris 10.

D.J. Dobson came off the Southern Wesleyan (1-2) bench to score 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line.

Francis Marion took the lead for good at 10-6 following a 6-0 run that consisted on three layups.  That margin expanded to 26-14 after a 9-0 spurt.  The Patriots then scored the final seven points of the first half to assume a 45-27 advantage at intermission. 

The lead swelled to 22 on a pair of second-half occasions, the final time at 69-47 following a Browning fastbreak layup with 10:37 remaining.  Southern Wesleyan used a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to single digits with just over six minutes remaining.

The Patriots extended the margin back to 84-72 after an Alexander jump shot with 1:50 on the clock, but the Warriors again rallied, trimming the lead to 85-80 with 35 ticks remaining.

FMU sealed the win by converting 5-of-6 free throws.

The Patriots shot 46.4 percent from the field, including 5-of-21 from three-point range, and connected on 21-of-31 free throws.  Southern Wesleyan hit 50.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including a sizzling 62.5 percent over the final 20 minutes, was 7-of-15 from behind the arc, and 18-of-25 at the foul line.