Box Score PEMBROKE, NC – Sophomore swingman Mike Davis Jr. scored a game-high 27 points, but a second-half rally by Francis Marion University fell short and the Patriots dropped a 91-75 decision to UNC Pembroke, Wednesday night (Jan. 13) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.
The Patriots (9-6, 2-5), who see their modest two-game winning streak snapped, will play at Young Harris College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. FMU will return home to the Smith University Center on Monday to entertain the University of North Georgia in a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.
Davis Jr. connected on half of his 18 field goal attempts and was 7-of-15 behind the three-point arc to register his third 20-point outing in the last four contests. Sophomore point guard Detrek Browning scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds, while junior guard Alante Fenner added 10 points.
Sophomore swingman Brandon Watts led UNCP (9-7, 3-4) with 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Guard Alex Bradley tallied 14 points and six assists, while forward Brandon Winford chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.
Davis connected on his first four shots and scored 10 quick points as FMU claimed an early 12-6 advantage. As a team, the Patriots hit 10 of their first 15 shots and led 24-15 at the 12:30 mark. However, the Braves scored the next 13 points to take the lead for good at 28-24.
Six points from Fenner fueled a brief FMU spurt that cut the deficit to 35-33. UNCP answered by scoring eight straight to open a double-digit lead at 43-33. The Braves led 45-35 at intermission.
The Braves quickly expanded the margin to 20 points at 64-44 with 14:28 left. UNCP's largest lead was 24 points at 74-50 after a pair of free throws by Winford with 9:30 on the clock. Freshman Brandon Parker then scored a pair of buckets to ignite a Francis Marion rally that trimmed the Braves' lead to 76-67 with 5:04 remaining. An illegal screen foul on the Patriots erased a made three-pointer by Davis Jr. that would have made it a six-point contest, and from there the Braves pulled away, scoring 10 consecutive points.
Francis Marion shot 47.5 percent from the floor, including 8-of-27 shots from three-point territory, and was 9-of-11 at the charity stripe. UNCP made 50.7 percent of its shots, was 10-of-23 from behind the arc, and hit 13-of-18 free throws.
1-13-16 7:30 p.m. at Pembroke, N.C./English E. Jones Center
UNC PEMBROKE 91, FRANCIS MARION 75
FRANCIS MARION (9-6, 2-5 PBC)
Mike Davis Jr. 9-18 2-2 27; Detrek Browning 5-9 2-3 13; Alante Fenner 4-12
2-2 10; Judah Alexander 4-6 0-0 8; David Jerome 1-1 2-2 4; Brandon Parker
2-3 0-0 4; Mykel Harris 1-3 1-2 3; A.J. Jackson 1-2 0-0 2; Kenneth Jackson
1-2 0-0 2; Samson Nnaji 1-3 0-0 2; Alex Bryant 0-2 0-0 0; Nick Talko 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 29-61 9-11 75.
UNC PEMBROKE (9-7, 3-4 PBC)
Brandon Watts 8-16 6-8 25; Brandon Winford 5-10 4-4 14; Alex Bradley 5-12
0-0 14; Tyler Kordenbrock 5-8 0-0 10; Jihad Wright 4-7 1-3 9; James
Murray-Boyles 3-6 0-0 7; Chris Smith 1-1 2-3 5; Mike Smith 1-2 0-0 3; Carson
Mounce 1-1 0-0 2; Giavonni Mack 1-4 0-0 2; Bryson Hall 0-0 0-0 0; Daylan
Fuller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-67 13-18 91.
Halftime: UNCP 45 Francis Marion 35
3-point goals--Francis Marion 8-27 (Mike Davis Jr. 7-15; Detrek Browning
1-3; Brandon Parker 0-1; Mykel Harris 0-1; A.J. Jackson 0-1; Alex Bryant
0-1; Alante Fenner 0-5), UNC Pembroke 10-23 (Alex Bradley 4-8; Brandon Watts
3-8; Mike Smith 1-2; James Murray-Boyles 1-2; Chris Smith 1-1; Giavonni Mack
0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, UNC Pembroke-None. Rebounds--Francis
Marion 30 (Detrek Browning 5), UNC Pembroke 39 (Tyler Kordenbrock 9).
Assists--Francis Marion 14 (Mike Davis Jr. 4), UNC Pembroke 20 (Giavonni
Mack 6; Alex Bradley 6). Total fouls--Francis Marion 16, UNC Pembroke 13.
Technical fouls--None. A-1319
