PEMBROKE, NC – Despite career highs from guards Tionne Rollins and Farid SaintCyr Jr., Francis Marion University dropped an 84-71 road decision to 20th-ranked UNC Pembroke, Thursday night (Jan.6) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
The Patriots were playing for the first time in 19 days.  FMU will go back on the road to square off against King University (Tenn.), Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
 
Rollins finished with 21 points and SaintCyr Jr. 15, while senior Alex Cox scored 11 points. Rollins shot 62.5 percent from behind the arc and the two guards would end with three steals each. Cox had five rebounds.
 
Jordan Ratliffe led UNCP (11-1, 8-1) in points with 21 and Tyrell Kirk added 17 points and six rebounds. 
 
The Patriots began the first five minutes of the contest down 13-0, until a free throw from freshmen guard Jose Benitez made it 13-1. FMU would begin to get in the groove by cutting the deficit to 10 points with 11 minutes left in the first half.
 
At the 9:49 mark, the Patriots began to hit from behind the arc after a Cox three-pointer. FMU and UNCP would go back and forth for the remainder of the half while Rollins would tally 11 points in the last seven minutes of the half. The Patriots would bring the score within seven twice throughout the second half, but would end the half down by 10, 44-34.
   
The Braves would begin the second half with a six-point run to stretch the margin to 50-34, before FMU answered with a 7-1 spurt to bring it back to 10 points. A jumper by Rollins brought the Patriots to within 55-46 with 12:19 left.  UNCP responded with the game's next three buckets and the margin would remain in double figures for the remainder of the game.
 
FMU shot 31.9 percent from the field with nearly half of the points coming from behind the arc. The Braves would shoot 48.4 percent from the floor. The Patriots shot 33.3 percent from the three-point line and UNCP 38.7 percent.
 
The Patriots were 17-of-28 at the free throw line, while the Braves shot 12-of-23.
 
 
01/06/22 7:00 pm at Pembroke, NC
#20 UNC PEMBROKE 84, FRANCIS MARION 71
FRANCIS MARION (4-6,2-6 Conferen)
Tionne Rollins 8-12 0-1 21; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 4-13 5-7 15; Alex Cox 3-7 3-3
11; Yohan-Steve Yebga 4-8 0-0 8; Ja'Lil Robinson 1-5 3-4 6; Jose Benitez
1-11 3-4 5; Jonah Pierce 1-4 1-6 3; Matthew Lee 0-0 2-2 2; Nieja Jordan 0-9
0-1 0. Totals 22-69 17-28 71.
UNC PEMBROKE (11-1,8-1 Confere)
Jordan Ratliffe 8-16 3-4 21; Tyrell Kirk 6-11 1-1 17; Deon Berrien 3-7 4-5
12; Spencer Levi 3-7 2-4 8; Trenton McIntyre 3-4 0-2 8; Bradlee Haskell 2-4
2-4 7; Nate Dunlop 3-7 0-1 7; Nygell Verdier 1-1 0-2 2; Jakari Gallon 1-3
0-0 2; Javonte Waverly 0-1 0-0 0; Tyre Boykin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 12-23 84.
Francis Marion................   34   37  -   71
UNC Pembroke...............  44   40  -   84
3-point goals--Francis Marion 10-30 (Tionne Rollins 5-8; Farid SaintCyr Jr.
2-6; Alex Cox 2-4; Ja'Lil Robinson 1-4; Nieja Jordan 0-2; Jonah Pierce 0-1;
Jose Benitez 0-4; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-1), UNC Pembroke 12-31 (Tyrell Kirk
4-7; Jordan Ratliffe 2-8; Trenton McIntyre 2-2; Deon Berrien 2-5; Bradlee
Haskell 1-2; Nate Dunlop 1-5; Javonte Waverly 0-1; Tyre Boykin 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, UNC Pembroke-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 37
(Jose Benitez 5; Alex Cox 5), UNC Pembroke 49 (Spencer Levi 11).
Assists--Francis Marion 13 (Farid SaintCyr Jr. 4; Jose Benitez 4), UNC
Pembroke 20 (Trenton McIntyre 5). Total fouls--Francis Marion 20, UNC
Pembroke 24. Technical fouls--None. A-448