ST. AUGUSTINE, FL – Sophomore point guard Detrek Browning registered his first career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Francis Marion University withstood a pair of potential game-tying three-point attempts in the final five seconds to record a 78-75 win over Flagler College, Wednesday night (Jan. 6) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

The Patriots led wire-to-wire en route to earning their first conference win of the year and improving to 8-5 overall.  FMU will play host to Armstrong State University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Smith University Center.

In addition to his sixth 20-point game in the last nine outings and his career-high rebound total, Browning handed out three assists and posted four steals while not committing a turnover in 38 minutes of action. Sophomore backcourt mate Mike Davis Jr. added 20 points, including four three-pointers.

Junior 6-8 center Kenneth Jackson just missed a double-double of his own with nine points and nine rebounds, junior guard Alante Fenner scored nine points and handed out six assists.

Vaughn McCall led the Saints (5-8, 1-4) with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including four shots from beyond the arc.

Two free throws by Fenner with 25.5 seconds left gave FMU a 77-72 lead.  McCall trimmed the margin to one possession (77-75) with a three-pointer with 19 ticks left.  Browning made 1-of-2 free throws with 15.2 seconds on the clock to up the lead to 78-75, but McCall missed a three-pointer, and after the ball went out of bounds, a desperation three by the Saints at the final horn was also no good.

Francis Marion scored the game's first four points and quickly led 11-2.  The margin swelled to 25-8 after a Browning lay-in with 7:58 left in the opening half.  A three-point play by Browning gave Patriots a 44-26 advantage, but Flagler closed the first stanza with a 6-0 spurt to close within 44-32 at intermission.

Flagler cut the deficit to 58-53 on a three-pointer by Matt Clark, but FMU answered with five straight points to extend the margin back to double figures (63-53).  Trailing 66-58, Flagler's Nick Grier made four straight free throws to close the gap to 66-62.

Sophomore forward Judah Alexander came up with a steal and slam dunk to give the Patriots a 73-67 lead with 1:48 remaining.

FMU committed only 10 miscues and converted 14 Flagler turnovers into 21 points.  The Patriots also held a 43-38 rebounding advantage and led 14-7 in second-chance points.

Francis Marion shot 40 percent from the field, was 6-of-18 from behind the three-point arc, and hit 20-of-31 free throws, while Flagler connected on 42.9 percent of its shots, was 8-of-28 from long range, and hit 13-of-15 free throws.