FLORENCE, SC – Senior guard Alex Cox knocked down a three-pointer from the right elbow as the final horn sounded to give Francis Marion University a 95-92 victory over North Greenville University, Friday night (Feb. 11) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
The Patriots (10-11, 8-11) will host Converse University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
All five Patriot starters would end the contest in double figures, with freshmen forward Jonah Pierce leading the way with a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds. Pierce tied a school record by hitting all 12 of his field goal attempts, a mark that stood for nearly 41 years dating back to a 12-of-12 performance by Bob Graziano against Wofford College on Nov. 17, 1981.

Cox posted 17 points and nine assists, while junior guard Tionne Rollins added 15 points and six assists, including the dish on the game-winning shot. Freshmen forward Nick Silva chipped in 12 points and freshmen guard Jose Benitez 11.
 
C.J. Jamison of NGU led the Crusaders (6-15, 4-14) with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Draylan Burton following with 14 points.
  
The first half of the contest would be all North Greenville, as the Patriots would only even the score once (25-25) and would not lead. With the Crusaders in control from the jump, Kameron Hobbs would knock down a fast-break floater to extend the lead to 11 points (23-12) with 12:16 remaining in the first half. A Cox three-point play would bring FMU within three, and freshmen guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. cashed in a three-pointer off a Crusader turnover to even the score at 25-25 with 9:45 left in the first half. The Crusaders responded with a three-pointer from David Muncy to regain the advantage.
 
North Greenville would lead the rest of the half, including a 13-point difference at 50-37 after a three-point by Hobbs with 1:26 remaining. A two-handed slam by Cox, followed by a turn-around jumper by Benitez and a stick-back hoop by sophomore forward Yohan-Steve Yebga allowed the Patriots momentum going into the second half down only seven (50-43).
 
The end of the first-half run by the Patriots would carry over into the beginning of the second stanza as a pair of three-pointers from Rollins would even the score at 52-52.  A pair of free throws by Benitez would propel the Patriots to their first lead at 54-52 with 16:08 remaining. A second chance layup by FMU's Pierce would give the Patriots their biggest lead at nine (73-64) with 9:45 left in the second half. Jamison for NGU would cut the deficit to 75-73 after a three-point play with 7:57 remaining.
 
The second half lead would begin to tighten up for the Patriots after a pair of free throws from the Crusaders' Caleb Williams pushed NGU on top leading by one point at 88-87 capping an 8-0 spurt.
 
A baseline dunk followed by a free throw by Pierce put FMU up 92-90, but NGU's Burton would even the score at 92-92 with two free throws with 31 ticks left.  This set the stage for the game-winning possession. Rollins would drive into the lane, and after being challenged by a collapsing  defense, kicked the ball out to Cox for the game-winning shot.  It was the second game-winning shot of the Concord, N.C., native's career as a Patriot.
 
The Patriots shot 54.2 percent from the field, while the Crusaders knocked down 49.3 percent of their shots. From beyond the arc, FMU shot 10-of-27 and NGU knocked down 7-of-25. At the stripe, Francis Marion nailed 7-of-11, while North Greenville hit 15-of-16.

 
 
02/11/22 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 95, NORTH GREENVILLE 92
NORTH GREENVILLE (6-15,4-14 Confer)
C.J. Jamison 10-15 1-1 22; Draylan Burton 5-8 3-4 14; Kameron Hobbs 5-12 1-1
13; Caleb Williams 4-6 3-3 11; Jacob Redding 2-9 4-4 9; Seth Hewitt 4-8 0-0
8; Zak Perdew 1-4 3-3 6; Mason Zick 3-8 0-0 6; David Muncy 1-1 0-0 3. Totals
35-71 15-16 92.
FRANCIS MARION (10-11,8-11 Confe)
Jonah Pierce 12-12 2-3 26; Alex Cox 7-12 1-1 17; Tionne Rollins 6-17 0-0 15;
Nick Silva 4-10 1-2 12; Jose Benitez 4-12 3-4 11; Yohan-Steve Yebga 3-4 0-1
6; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-1 0-0 3; Asante Turner 1-1 0-0 3; Nieja Jordan 1-3
0-0 2; Matthew Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-72 7-11 95.
Halftime: North Greenville 50 Francis Marion 43
3-point goals--North Greenville 7-25 (Kameron Hobbs 2-5; C.J. Jamison 1-3;
Jacob Redding 1-6; David Muncy 1-1; Draylan Burton 1-2; Zak Perdew 1-4;
Mason Zick 0-3; Seth Hewitt 0-1), Francis Marion 10-27 (Tionne Rollins 3-12;
Nick Silva 3-7; Alex Cox 2-5; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-1; Asante Turner 1-1;
Jose Benitez 0-1). Fouled out--North Greenville-None, Francis Marion-None.
Rebounds--North Greenville 33 (C.J. Jamison 9), Francis Marion 36
(Yohan-Steve Yebga 9). Assists--North Greenville 22 (Seth Hewitt 5; Draylan
Burton 5), Francis Marion 31 (Alex Cox 9). Total fouls--North Greenville 14,
Francis Marion 14. Technical fouls--North Greenville-Francis Marion-Jose Benitez. A-300