FLORENCE, S.C. – Senior guard Alex Cox led the way with a career-high 30 points to lift Francis Marion University to a 96-84 victory over Johnson and Wales University, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 13) in non-conference men's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion starts the season off at 1-0 and will host Pfeiffer University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
The victory was the 200th for head coach Gary Edwards in his tenure at Francis Marion.  His win total is second only to Lewis Hill's 339 in the history of the Patriot men's basketball program.
 
Cox's career high came on 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, 8-of-10 at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Ja'Von Anderson tallied 15 points and led FMU with four assists.
 
Junior guard Tionne Rollins, who transferred from Purdue University Fort Wayne, began his debut with 12 points and six rebounds, while also going 4-of-5 behind the arc. Freshmen forward Nick Silva and graduate student forward Neija Jordan both registered 11 points. Freshmen guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. chipped in with eight points.
 
Senior guard Fred Patterson led the Wildcats (2-3) with 21 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Wildcats, who trailed by as many as 19 in the second half, found themselves down the entirety of the contest. A pair of threes by Cox and one from Anderson sparked an 11-3 FMU start that would force JWU to call a timeout. The Patriots controlled the lead right from the start after an opening three by Cox.
 
The two squads retreated to the locker rooms at halftime with FMU leading 47-35.
 
FMU led by as many as 19 early in the second half.  The Wildcats trimmed the margin to 82-74 with 4:50 remaining, but SaintCyr Jr. answered with a fast-break layup and freshman Silva drained a three-pointer to quickly push the lead back to double digits.
 
Francis Marion shot 47.1 percent from the floor, including 13-of-25 from behind the three-point arc, and canned 19-of-25 free throws. Johnson and Wales connected on 45.8 percent of its shots, was 8-of-22 from long range, and hit 22-of-37 free throws.

 
 
11/13/21 3:00 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 96, JWU (CHARLOTTE) 84
JWU (CHARLOTTE) (2-3)
Fred Patterson 6-9 9-11 21; Nathan Meshida 4-10 5-8 15; Jaylen Dibble 6-11
2-4 15; Collin Irby 4-7 0-2 11; Anthoney Ray 3-9 2-2 9; Brandon Summers 3-5
2-4 8; De'Andre Williams 1-1 2-6 5; Chalen Stafford-Gill 0-0 0-0 0; JC
Cooper 0-4 0-0 0; Adriel De La Rosa 0-0 0-0 0; Zyrion Wilkins 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 27-59 22-37 84.
FRANCIS MARION (1-0)
Alex Cox 9-12 8-10 30; Ja'Von Anderson 4-6 4-4 15; Tionne Rollins 4-9 0-0
12; Nick Silva 3-10 4-4 11; Nieja Jordan 5-9 0-0 11; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 4-7
0-0 8; Jonah Pierce 1-4 2-3 4; Yohan-Steve Yebga 1-6 0-2 2; Matthew Lee 1-1
0-0 2; Ja'Lil Robinson 0-2 1-2 1; Nari Jordan 0-0 0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-0
0-0 0; Ben Jones 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 19-25 96.
Halftime: Francis Marion 47 JWU (Charlotte) 35
3-point goals--JWU (Charlotte) 8-22 (Collin Irby 3-4; Nathan Meshida 2-5;
Jaylen Dibble 1-2; De'Andre Williams 1-1; Anthoney Ray 1-4; JC Cooper 0-2;
Zyrion Wilkins 0-2; Fred Patterson 0-2), Francis Marion 13-25 (Tionne
Rollins 4-5; Alex Cox 4-5; Ja'Von Anderson 3-4; Nick Silva 1-3; Nieja Jordan
1-3; Ja'Lil Robinson 0-1; Ben Jones 0-1; Jonah Pierce 0-1; Farid SaintCyr
Jr. 0-2). Fouled out--JWU (Charlotte)-Zyrion Wilkins, Francis Marion-Nieja
Jordan. Rebounds--JWU (Charlotte) 39 (Fred Patterson 9), Francis Marion 41
(Tionne Rollins 6; Jonah Pierce 6). Assists--JWU (Charlotte) 11 (Anthoney
Ray 3), Francis Marion 18 (Ja'Von Anderson 4). Total fouls--JWU (Charlotte)
22, Francis Marion 26. Technical fouls--None. A-373