AUGUSTA, GA – Trailing by five at halftime, Augusta University opened the second half with a 23-9 run and then held off a late Francis Marion University rally to claim a 75-74 Peach Belt Conference victory, Monday night (Jan. 4) in men's basketball action.

Francis Marion (7-5, 0-4) will play at Flagler College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before returning home to entertain Armstrong State University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Sophomore Mike Davis Jr. led FMU with 23 points before fouling out, while junior Alante Fenner registered his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Sophomore point guard Detrek Browning added 15 points, while sophomore Judah Alexander tallied seven points and 11 rebounds.

Keshun Sherrill led Augusta (6-5, 2-2) with 26 points, while Aaron Byrd added 15 points.

Trailing by nine points, 56-47, Davis Jr. connected on six free throws over a 34-second span to rally the Patriots to within 56-53.  A charity toss by Browning further cut the deficit to 56-54 with 6:06 remaining.  The Jaguars expanded their lead to 63-56 before four consecutive points by Alexander trimmed the margin to 63-60 with 3:51 left.

A bucket by Mykel Harris brought Francis Marion to with 64-62 with 2:37 on the clock, but again Augusta pulled away to a 70-64 advantage with only 38 ticks left.  Five points each by Browning and Fenner, including a three-pointer by the latter with 11 seconds remaining, brought the Patriots to with one point at 75-74.

After Augusta missed two free throws, Fenner had a chance to win the game but his three-pointer missed with three seconds left.

The opening half featured runs by both squads.  Augusta scored the game's first six points only to watch FMU rally to knot the score at 8-8.  The score was tied at 21-21 before the Jaguars forged a 26-21 lead.  Francis Marion answered with a 9-0 spurt.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Davis Jr. late in the first half helped the Patriots to a 38-30 lead before Francis Marion settled for a 38-33 halftime advantage.