FLORENCE, SC – Despite a 19-point 11-rebound double-double from 6-8 freshman center Jonah Pierce, Francis Marion University fell victim to a hot-shooting King University (Tenn.) squad as the Tornado claimed a 98-82 win, Friday night (Dec. 3) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
The Patriots (3-3, 1-3) will return to the Smith University Center on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 4) to host Lees-McRae College for a 4 p.m. contest.
 
Pierce's effort was his third double-double of the season. He connected on 9-of-12 field goal attempts to raise his season shooting percentage to 68.9 percent.  Senior guard Alex Cox recorded 18 points and added three assists and three steals. Graduate student Neija Jordan compiled 10 points and four rebounds.
 
In the first six minutes of the contest, King would come out hot, hitting four three-pointers by Michael Mays and one from Darron Howard. The Tornado would only have an 18-16 lead at the 14:10 mark until a Pierce layup squared things at 18.
 
King the spurted ahead by as many as 16 points, before an 11-0 FMU run would trim the margin to 48-43 following a Jordan fast-break lay-in. King's Connor Jordan converted a three-point play in the final seconds to up the Tornado advantage to 51-43 at halftime.
 
FMU would cut the deficit under 10 twice early in the second stanza, and the margin was only 11 (65-54) with 15:16 remaining.  However, King used an 11-2 spurt to push the lead to 20 points and the Patriots would not seriously threaten again.
 
FMU shot 50.0 percent from the field, while King connected on 53.1 percent of its field goal attempts, including 14-of-28 from behind the arc. The Patriots did control the boards and out-rebounded the Tornado 39-36, while 60 of Francis Marion's 82 points would come from within the paint.
 
Howard led King University (4-2, 2-2) with 24 points, while Mays added 22 points and Blake Atwood 19. 

 
 
12/03/21 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
KING (TN) 98, FRANCIS MARION 82
KING (TN) (4-2,2-2 Conferen)
Darron Howard 9-13 2-2 24; Michael Mays 7-11 2-4 22; Blake Atwood 7-10 2-3
19; Isaiah Curry 3-6 2-2 8; Connor Jordan 2-6 1-1 5; Kenny Turner 2-3 0-2 4;
MJ Foust 2-3 0-3 4; Brandon Lamberth 1-6 2-2 4; Drew Baker 1-1 0-0 3; Henry
Okoye 0-0 3-4 3; Desmond Davis 0-2 2-4 2; J'Son Brooks 0-2 0-0 0; Amarius
Beasley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-64 16-27 98.
FRANCIS MARION (3-3,1-3 Conferen)
Jonah Pierce 9-12 1-4 19; Alex Cox 6-9 6-7 18; Nieja Jordan 5-9 0-1 10; Nick
Silva 3-11 2-2 8; Yohan-Steve Yebga 3-5 1-2 7; Tionne Rollins 2-5 0-0 5;
Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-8 1-6 5; Nari Jordan 2-2 0-0 4; Matthew Lee 1-2 2-2 4;
Asante Turner 1-3 0-0 2; Jedon Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Ja'Lil Robinson 0-1 0-0 0;
Ben Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 13-24 82.
Halftime: King (TN) 51 Francis Marion 43
3-point goals--King (TN) 14-28 (Michael Mays 6-10; Darron Howard 4-7; Blake
Atwood 3-4; Drew Baker 1-1; Brandon Lamberth 0-1; Desmond Davis 0-1; J'Son
Brooks 0-1; Amarius Beasley 0-1; Connor Jordan 0-2), Francis Marion 1-14
(Tionne Rollins 1-1; Alex Cox 0-2; Nieja Jordan 0-2; Nick Silva 0-3; Farid
SaintCyr Jr. 0-2; Asante Turner 0-2; Ja'Lil Robinson 0-1; Ben Jones 0-1).
Fouled out--King (TN)-None, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--King (TN) 36
(Isaiah Curry 8), Francis Marion 39 (Jonah Pierce 11). Assists--King (TN) 19
(Connor Jordan 5), Francis Marion 17 (Tionne Rollins 6). Total fouls--King
(TN) 23, Francis Marion 20. Technical fouls--None. A-702