DAHLONEGA, GA. — Career days from Langston Gaither and Holden Redparth helped Francis Marion University to a 76-69 road win over the University of North Georgia, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (2-2, 2-2) will return to Florence for a weekday Peach Belt Conference matchup against USC Aiken on Wednesday. Tip-off time will be announced later this week. Attendance will be limited to 250 – only season ticket holders, player/staff family members identified on a pre-game pass list, and a limited number of students. No general admission game-day tickets will be sold.
 
Gaither, a junior forward, once again had a career day for the Patriots with a career-high 28 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Gaither currently sits No. 2 in PBC in scoring, averaging 23.3 points a game.
 
Redparth, a Rockville, Md., native, also posted a career best with 26 points, while hauling down nine rebounds. He shot 50 percent from three-point range, and was 7 of 9 from the charity stripe. He currently ranks No. 1 in PBC in three-point percentage (46.7 percent) and three-point field goals per game (3.5). He also sits at No. 3 in PBC in scoring, averaging 22.8 points a game. Francis Marion is the only team in the PBC with two Top-5 scorers.
 
The Nighthawks (2-2, 2-2) struck first, but after three lead changes in the opening minutes of the game, the Patriots grabbed a 6-5 lead that they would only build on in the first half. That sparked a 5-0 run over the next four minutes of play that gave Francis Marion a six-point lead with 13:20 left. The two squads battled back-and-forth for seven minutes before FMU pulled away with a 13-point lead, 32-19. The Patriots entered the locker room up 37-27. 
 
Francis Marion had 13 points off of 9 UNG turnovers to go along with eight second-chance points in the first half. The Patriots shot 46.9 percent from the field and were 5-10 from beyond the three-point arc. The strong first-half defensive performance was highlight by UNG shooting 0-10 from three-point land. Gaither scored 15 of his points in the opening stanza and Redparth eight.
 
North Georgia didn't back down coming out of the locker room and quickly clawed their way within seven, 46-39. The Patriots battled hard and jumped out to a 14-point lead, 62-36, their largest of the game, following two free throws by junior forward Uhana Ochan with 9:10 remaining.
 
A technical foul on FMU contributed to an 11-0 run by the Nighthawks as they drew within five points with 6:55 left in the game. FMU saw the lead dip to three with three minutes remaining, but held off the UNG comeback in the final minute thanks to strong play from Gaither and Redparth.
 
Gaither nailed a jumper with 37 ticks left and Redparth drained three free throws in the final 25 seconds.
 
UNG was led by Frank Champion with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Malik Hardy scored 14 points and Kody Shubert tallied 14 points and five assists.
 
For the latest news and updates regarding Francis Marion men's basketball, follow the Patriots on Twitter at @FMUSports, on Facebook at FMUSports, and Instagram at @FMUSports or check out information online at www.fmupatriots.com.
 
 
01/16/21 3:30 pm at Dahlonega, GA
FRANCIS MARION 76, NORTH GEORGIA 69
FRANCIS MARION (2-2,2-2 Peach Be)
Langston Gaither 10-15 5-6 28; Holden Redparth 8-16 7-9 26; Alex Cox 3-9 0-2
7; Darius Dawson 2-7 0-1 5; Uhana Ochan 1-4 2-2 4; Ja'Von Anderson 2-8 0-0
4; Jamal Edmonson 1-2 0-0 2; Ben Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 14-20 76.
NORTH GEORGIA (1-3,1-2 Peach Be)
Frank Champion 6-9 2-4 14; Malik Hardy 5-9 3-3 14; Kody Shubert 5-10 3-3 14;
Zach Brown 4-6 2-2 10; Greg Billups, Jr. 4-5 0-0 8; Case Roach 1-4 2-2 5;
Darnell Snyers 2-7 0-0 4; Caleb Mauldin 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Cottrell 0-5 0-0 0;
Mekhail Bethea 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 12-14 69.
Francis Marion................   37   39  -   76
North Georgia.................   27   42  -   69
3-point goals--Francis Marion 8-17 (Holden Redparth 3-6; Langston Gaither
3-4; Darius Dawson 1-3; Alex Cox 1-3; Ja'Von Anderson 0-1), North Georgia
3-19 (Kody Shubert 1-2; Case Roach 1-3; Malik Hardy 1-4; Darnell Snyers 0-3;
Josh Cottrell 0-5; Mekhail Bethea 0-1; Greg Billups, Jr. 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, North Georgia-Malik Hardy. Rebounds--Francis
Marion 33 (Holden Redparth 9), North Georgia 34 (Frank Champion 12).
Assists--Francis Marion 9 (Langston Gaither 3; Alex Cox 3), North Georgia 8
(Kody Shubert 5). Total fouls--Francis Marion 13, North Georgia 19.
Technical fouls--Francis Marion-Alex Cox. A-425