FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University freshmen forward Nick Silva posted his second consecutive 20-point game as FMU hosted Belmont Abbey College on Saturday evening (Jan. 15), but the Patriots dropped an 89-76 decision in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
The Patriots will begin a two-game road trip this coming weekend, heading to North Greenville University on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and to Converse University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Silva posted a game-high 20 points, while reeling in seven rebounds, handing out four assists, and grabbing three steals. Freshmen 6-8 center Jonah Pierce ended with 16 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and five blocks for his sixth double-double of his freshmen campaign.
 
Quest Aldridge led Belmont Abbey (7-6, 5-4) with 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Mario Lacey Jr. and Ryan Maslow added 12 points each as six Crusaders reached double figures. 
 
The Crusaders and Patriots would stay close for the first four minutes, but Belmont Abbey would take the lead with an Aldridge three-pointer to put them up 11-8. That hoop was part of a 12-0 Crusader run that would eventually result in a 21-12 BAC lead at the 9:58 mark. The Patriots would answer with a Pierce layup and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Ja'Von Anderson cutting the deficit to 21-18 going into the under-8 media timeout.
 
Belmont Abbey come out of the timeout with a 16-2 run to extend its lead to 17 at 37-20. The Crusaders would maintain that lead up until the 1:20 mark. FMU scored nine of the final 10 points in the first half to trim the margin to 46-37 at intermission. Silva sank two shots from behind the arc and sophomore guard Ja'Lil Robinson added a third three-pointer to help in the rally.
 
The Patriots would start the second half with momentum bringing the deficit to nine four times and seven once – 60-53 after a stick-back by Pierce with 12:11 remaining.  The Crusaders responded with 13 straight points to push the lead to 20, and they would extend their lead as far as 21 later in the stanza.
 
FMU ended the contest shooting 39.7 percent from the field, while Belmont Abbey drained 46.3% percent of its attempts. The Patriots shot 16-of-22 from the line and the Crusaders were 16-of-28.
 
 
 
01/15/22 4:00 pm at Florence, SC
BELMONT ABBEY 89, FRANCIS MARION 76
BELMONT ABBEY (7-6,5-4 Conferen)
Quest Aldridge 5-10 1-3 13; Mario Lacy, Jr. 4-4 4-7 12; Ryan Maslow 4-10 0-0
12; Chandler Baker 5-10 0-0 11; Charles Solomon 4-6 2-3 10; LJ McCoy 3-10
0-2 8; Bosko Bojovic 3-7 4-4 10; KJ Garrett 2-3 2-5 7; Sean Halloran 1-4 3-4
6; Casey Cox 0-0 0-0 2; Emanuel Hernandez 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-67 16-28 89.
FRANCIS MARION (5-8,3-8 Conferen)
Nick Silva 7-16 4-8 20; Jonah Pierce 5-9 6-7 16; Tionne Rollins 4-9 0-1 9;
Jose Benitez 3-8 3-3 9; Ja'Von Anderson 3-6 0-0 8; Nieja Jordan 3-5 0-0 6;
Ja'Lil Robinson 2-10 1-1 6; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-4 2-2 2; Nari Jordan 0-0 0-0
0; Matthew Lee 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-68 16-22 76.
Halftime: Belmont Abbey 46 Francis Marion 37
3-point goals--Belmont Abbey 11-24 (Ryan Maslow 4-8; Quest Aldridge 2-3; LJ
McCoy 2-4; KJ Garrett 1-1; Sean Halloran 1-1; Chandler Baker 1-4; Emanuel
Hernandez 0-2; Bosko Bojovic 0-1), Francis Marion 6-24 (Ja'Von Anderson 2-3;
Nick Silva 2-7; Ja'Lil Robinson 1-7; Tionne Rollins 1-5; Jose Benitez 0-2).
Fouled out--Belmont Abbey-None, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--Belmont Abbey
44 (Bosko Bojovic 9), Francis Marion 38 (Jonah Pierce 10). Assists--Belmont
Abbey 27 (KJ Garrett 7), Francis Marion 16 (Tionne Rollins 5). Total
fouls--Belmont Abbey 20, Francis Marion 23. Technical fouls--Belmont
Abbey-None, Francis Marion-None. A-224