FLORENCE, SC – Freshmen forward Nick Silva's 20-point performance helped Francis Marion University defeat Converse University 83-71, Saturday (Feb. 12) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
The Patriots (11-11, 9-11) will host head coach Gary Edward's former team Barton College for their second matchup on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Four of five Patriot starters finished in double figures with Silva's 20-point performance leading the way as he hit on 7-of-10 field goal attempts and 4-of-5 free throws. Junior guard Tionne Rollins scored 17 points while knocking down 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Senior guard Alex Cox, fresh off his game-winning three-pointer against North Greenville University on Friday, added 16 points. Freshmen center Jonah Pierce posted 11 points and led the team with six rebounds while freshmen guard Jose Benitez led the team with nine assists.
 
Converse guard Jimmie Sanders III led the Valkyries (5-20, 4-15) with 16 points and eight assists, while forward Earl Burgess III posted 14 points and led the team in rebounds with eight.  
FMU would open the contest with an eight-point run leading to a Valkyrie timeout. The Patriots would lead for the entirety of the contest. A Rollins' three-pointer would extend the Patriot lead to nine (11-2). A three-pointer by Silva would further push the lead to 10 until a three-pointer by Sanders would shorten the deficit to seven (13-6).
 
The Patriots then scored 13 straight points to go up 26-6, and would lead by as much as 28 points (39-11) at the 8:59 mark following a dunk by Pierce. From the 5:14 minute to the end of the first half, the Valkyries finished with a 16-9 run going into the locker room to trail 52-36.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Patriots would push their lead back up to 20 points at 59-39 after a jumper from Benitez outside of the paint. A Cox fast-break layup would spring the Patriots forward to lead 63-41 with 15:27 remaining in the second half. Converse's Elijah Pitts knocked down a three-pointer followed by a free throw from Bailey Wiseman to shrink the Patriots' lead to 14 at 67-53.
 
A lay-in by Pierce restored the Patriots advantage to an 18-point margin at 71-53 before Converse's Sanders III knocked down a three-pointer and fast-break layup to shrink the deficit to 13 (71-58). The Valkyries would not sit back as Sanders III converted a bucket and a free throw to bring the deficit to eight with 1:27 remaining at 77-69. FMU knocked down six free throws in the final 1:07 to escape victorious.
 
The Patriots shot 50.8 percent from the floor, while the Valkyries knocked down 43.9 percent of their shots. From behind the arc, Francis Marion shot 9-of-21 and Converse was 10-of-25, while at the free throw stripe, FMU nailed 12-of-17, while Converse was only 11-of-22.

 
 
02/12/22 4:00 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 83, CONVERSE 71
CONVERSE (5-20,4-15 Confer)
Jimmie Sanders III 5-10 2-4 16; Earl Burgess III 6-9 2-3 14; Elijah Pitts
4-7 0-2 10; Nate Gordon 4-7 1-2 9; Jay Mitchell 2-8 3-7 8; Will Searl 2-8
2-2 8; Jordan Warlick 2-8 0-0 5; Bailey Wiseman 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-57
11-22 71.
FRANCIS MARION (11-11,9-11 Confe)
Nick Silva 7-10 4-5 20; Tionne Rollins 5-8 3-4 17; Alex Cox 6-9 2-2 16;
Jonah Pierce 5-8 0-0 11; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 3-10 1-1 7; Nieja Jordan 2-6 2-3
6; Jose Benitez 2-8 0-0 4; Yohan-Steve Yebga 1-1 0-2 2; Asante Turner 0-1
0-0 0; Matthew Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 12-17 83.
Halftime: Francis Marion 52 Converse 36
3-point goals--Converse 10-25 (Jimmie Sanders III 4-7; Will Searl 2-6;
Elijah Pitts 2-3; Jay Mitchell 1-4; Jordan Warlick 1-5), Francis Marion 9-21
(Tionne Rollins 4-7; Alex Cox 2-4; Nick Silva 2-2; Jonah Pierce 1-2; Asante
Turner 0-1; Jose Benitez 0-2; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 0-3). Fouled
out--Elijah Pitts; Earl Burgess III. Rebounds--Converse 32 (Earl Burgess III 8),
FMU 37 (Jonah Pierce 6). Assists--Converse 19 (Jimmie Sanders III 8),
FMU 23 (Jose Benitez 9). Total fouls--Converse 16, FMU 23. Technical
fouls--None. A-541