YOUNG HARRIS, GA – Junior guard Detrek Browning scored a team-high 20 points, but Francis Marion University came up on the short end of a 75-53 decision to Young Harris College, Monday afternoon (Dec. 19) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

The Patriots (4-6, 0-2) now enter the NCAA Division II Christmas break.  Francis Marion will return to action on Jan. 5 with a home contest against the University of Montevallo.

Browning hit on 7-of-14 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from three-point distance, and pulled down six rebounds.  Junior forward Judah Alexander chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds, while 6-6 senior center Nigel Holley came off the Patriot bench to tally season-highs of eight points and six rebounds.

Ben Waterhouse led Young Harris with 25 points, while draining 6-of-8 shots from behind the three-point arc.  The Mountain Lions (8-3, 2-0) are ranked seventh in the latest D2SIDA Southeast region poll.

Excepting for an early 2-2 tie, Francis Marion trailed the entire contest.  Young Harris broke that early deadlock and led 10-4, then 26-13, and later 33-16 with 5:16 left before halftime.  The Patriots pulled to within 37-24 at intermission.

The margin was 40-26 when Alexander scored on a pair of buckets to draw Francis Marion to within 40-30.  It was the first of four occasions that saw FMU cut the deficit to 10 points.  The final time came at 49-39 after a Browning lay-in with 13:12 remaining.  Young Harris scored the game's next 14 points over a seven-minute span to open a commanding 63-39 edge.

FMU shot 35.5 percent from the field, was 4-of-20 on three-point shots, and 5-of-10 at the free throw line.  Young Harris connected on 50 percent of all its shots: 29-of-58 from the floor, 10-20 from three-point distance, and 7-of-14 at the foul line.