FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University and Chowan University battled to the wire Tuesday (Jan. 11) evening in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play, but the Patriots fell 82-79 after Chowan's Cheick Traore hit a clutch free throw with 4.1 seconds remaining to break a late deadlock.
 
The Patriots were playing for the first time at home since Dec. 4. FMU will go back on the road to square off against Erskine College, Thursday at 5 p.m.  Please note the earlier tip-time as the women's contest has been postponed until Jan. 19.
 
Senior guard Alex Cox led the Patriots with 14 points, while sophomore forward Yohan-Steve Yebga scored a career-high 13 points and reeled in eight rebounds. Freshmen forward Jonah Pierce posted his fifth double-double this season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Jose Benitez added a career-high 11 points, six assists, and three steals.
 
Junior swingman Christian Koonce led Chowan (2-10, 2-8) in points with 27, while graduate student Jay Estime added 24 points and six assists. 
 
The Patriots began the first five minutes of the contest down 14-4, with a pair of threes from Koonce aiding the early run. FMU would gain some momentum after a monster dunk by graduate student forward Neija Jordan cut the deficit to eight at 26-18.
 
That momentum would spark a 10-0 run by the Patriots, as FMU took the lead 28-26 with six minutes left in the first half. It would be back-and-forth for the rest of the first half until Yebga tipped in a miss at the buzzer to give the Patriots a 42-40 lead going into halftime.
     
The score would remain tight for the first five minutes of the second half until Chowan would spark an 11-2 run that would lead to a media timeout with the Hawks up 67-57. Straight out of the timeout, FMU would begin a run of their own. The Patriots would go on a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to 69-67.
 
The Patriots and the Hawks would have an answer for each team's buckets, keeping the score very tight through the last minutes of the second half. At the 3:13 mark, Benitez would give the Patriots a one-point lead (75-74) after a three-point play. Thirty-seven seconds later, Pierce scored on a layup making the score 77-74.
 
Chowan scored the game's next six points to take a 79-77 advantage, before freshmen guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. sank a clutch layup to tie the game with 24 seconds left. The Hawks would take a one-point lead as Traore hit one-of-two free throws with 4.1 seconds on the clock. FMU would commit a turnover with one second left, and the Hawks secured the victory with two more free throws.
 
FMU shot 44.8 percent from the field and made nine three-pointers, while the Hawks would shoot 46.6 percent from the floor, including 13-26 from behind the arc.

 
 
01/11/22 7:00 pm at Florence, SC
CHOWAN 82, FRANCIS MARION 79
CHOWAN (2-10,2-8 Confere)
Christian Koonce 9-19 4-4 27; Jay Estime 6-10 7-10 24; Chase Barnett 4-8 1-2
11; RJ Wilson 3-8 2-4 8; Cheick Traore 2-3 1-2 5; Marcus Elliott 2-6 0-1 5;
Donavon Martin 1-4 0-0 2; Aaron James 0-0 0-0 0; Daylen Askew 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 27-58 15-23 82.
FRANCIS MARION (4-7,2-7 Conferen)
Alex Cox 5-10 0-0 14; Yohan-Steve Yebga 6-9 1-3 13; Jose Benitez 4-8 2-3 11;
Jonah Pierce 3-6 4-9 10; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 3-7 0-0 8; Nieja Jordan 2-2 2-3
6; Ja'Lil Robinson 2-5 0-0 5; Nick Silva 2-2 0-1 4; Ja'Von Anderson 1-6 0-0
3; Tionne Rollins 1-9 1-1 3; Matthew Lee 1-3 0-1 2. Totals 30-67 10-21 79.
Halftime: Francis Marion 42 Chowan 40
3-point goals--Chowan 13-26 (Christian Koonce 5-9; Jay Estime 5-8; Chase
Barnett 2-3; Marcus Elliott 1-5; RJ Wilson 0-1), Francis Marion 9-30 (Alex
Cox 4-8; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-4; Ja'Von Anderson 1-5; Jose Benitez 1-2;
Ja'Lil Robinson 1-3; Tionne Rollins 0-7; Jonah Pierce 0-1). Fouled
out--Chowan-None, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--Chowan 38 (RJ Wilson 7),
Francis Marion 39 (Jonah Pierce 10). Assists--Chowan 21 (Chase Barnett 7),
Francis Marion 18 (Jose Benitez 6). Total fouls--Chowan 18, Francis Marion
23. Technical fouls--None. A-552