Box Score AIKEN, SC - Sophomore guards Detrek Browning and Mike Davis Jr. combined to score 53 points to lift Francis Marion University to an 81-72 Peach Belt Conference victory over USC Aiken, Saturday night (Feb. 20) in men's basketball action.
The win snaps a three-game slide for the Patriots as they remain one game behind Armstrong State University and UNC Pembroke in the race for the final PBC Tournament berth. It is the first FMU win in Aiken in seven seasons.
FMU (16-11, 8-10) will entertain UNCP for the final regular-season game of the 2015-16 season on Wednesday night (Feb. 24). Tip-off for Senior Night is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Browning scored 29 and Davis Jr. 24 for the Patriots, while junior forward Samson Nnaji finished with a career-high 14 points. Browning also hauled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Browning would complete a perfect first half by going 6-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from beyond-the-arc. The 16 first-half points allowed him to become the 20th player in program history to surpass 1,000 for his career. He ended the contest with 1,021 career points.
USCA (6-19, 4-14) was paced by a double-double from senior Arbry Butler, who scored 2 points and added 13 rebounds. Senior's Taveras Sledge and Keith Belfield each finished with 15 points for the Pacers.
The Patriots forced USCA into a total of 12 turnovers in the first half, leading to 19 points in the process. Davis Jr. added eight points over the opening 20 minutes as the Patriots took a comfortable 42-28 lead into the locker room.
Early on, FMU would find itself trailing the Pacers 10-5 with 15:53 left to play in the first half before turning things around offensively. Browning continued his hot play as he scored the first five points for the Patriots. A 13-0 run over the course of 4:07 would turn a five-point deficit into an 18-10 lead for FMU.
After intermission, the Patriots would quickly increase their lead to a game-high 16 points as Browning converted on a layup to make it 44-28. The Pacers would cut the lead down to 10 points with 15:09 remaining in the second half after Sledge drained two free-throws. Davis Jr. caught fire in the second stanza for the Patriots as he scored 16 of his 24 points.
The Pacers would trim the FMU lead down to just three points with 1:27 remaining in the final stanza. A foul by Browning would send Sledge back to the line as he hit both to make it 73-70. On the ensuing possession, Davis Jr. would drain a layup to give the Patriots a five-point lead.
Over the final 50 seconds of the game, FMU connected on 6-of-8 attempts at the foul line to close out the Pacers and the game.
Francis Marion shot 47.5 percent from the floor, was 10-of-24 from three-point territory, and made 13-of-17 free throws. USCA connected on 43.6 percent of its shots, was 7-of-22 from beyond the arc, and hit 17-of-26 charity tosses.
2-20-16 7:30 p.m. at Aiken, S.C. (Convocation Center)
FRANCIS MARION 81, USC AIKEN 72
FMU (16-11; 8-10)
Detrek Browning 10-12 4-5 29; Mike Davis Jr. 8-14 3-4 24; Samson Nnaji 5-7
4-5 14; Judah Alexander 2-4 2-3 6; Alante Fenner 2-7 0-0 4; A.J. Jackson 1-8
0-0 2; Kenneth Jackson 1-3 0-0 2; Nick Talko 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Parker 0-0
0-0 0; Mykel Harris 0-6 0-0 0; David Jerome 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-61 13-17 81.
USC AIKEN (6-19; 4-14)
Arbry Butler 7-9 8-14 22; Tavares Sledge 5-14 5-6 15; Keith Belfield 5-14
0-0 15; Hendrix Emu 2-7 2-3 6; Albert Miller III 1-1 0-0 3; Andrew Glover
1-2 0-0 3; Gavin Stephenson 1-3 1-1 3; Kyle Buffkin 1-1 1-2 3; Jevon Patton
1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-55 17-26 72.
Halftime: FMU 42 USCA 28
3-point goals--FMU 10-24 (Detrek Browning 5-7; Mike Davis Jr. 5-10; Alante
Fenner 0-1; A.J. Jackson 0-3; Mykel Harris 0-3), USC Aiken 7-22 (Keith
Belfield 5-10; Andrew Glover 1-2; Albert Miller III 1-1; Gavin Stephenson
0-1; Jevon Patton 0-2; Hendrix Emu 0-1; Tavares Sledge 0-5). Fouled
out--FMU-Samson Nnaji, USC Aiken-Arbry Butler. Rebounds--FMU 35 (Detrek
Browning 8), USC Aiken 38 (Tavares Sledge 14). Assists--FMU 13 (Alante
Fenner 4; Mike Davis Jr. 4), USC Aiken 12 (Hendrix Emu 3). Total fouls--FMU
22, USC Aiken 17. Technical fouls--None. A-1071
