FLORENCE, SC – Barton College held Francis Marion University scoreless over the final 2:37 to claim a come-from-behind 76-70 victory, Wednesday night (Feb. 16) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
FMU (11-12, 9-12) will get a second chance at Emmanuel College this Saturday as the Patriots host the Lions at 4 p.m. for Senior Day.
 
FMU freshmen guard Jose Benitez set a new career-high leading the team with 16 points, five assists and six steals. Junior guard Tionne Rollins followed with 15 points and four steals. Freshmen center Jonah Pierce recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots, while senior guard Alex Cox added 12 points.
 
Barton guard Marcus Boykin led the Bulldogs (13-12, 11-10) with 25 points, nine rebounds, and three steals, while guard Donaven Hairston posted 17 points and three steals.
  
The Patriots would start off hot as they played a near-perfect first seven minutes. A Rollins' three-pointer would strike first to put the Patriots ahead 3-0. FMU would keep rolling as their lead would rise up to 24 points after a pair of free throws by Rollins made it 29-5 just seven minutes in.
 
The lead for the Patriots would begin to shrink as the Bulldogs fought back with a 15-0 run, making the score 29-20. FMU responded with eight straight points to extend their lead to 17. Barton answered with its own run, outscoring the Patriots 17-4 over the final 5:50 of the half to close within 41-37 at intermission.
 
To begin the second half, the Patriots looked to reclaim their big lead, but would be answered by Barton on every occasion. A three-pointer by Cox would get the FMU lead back up to seven points (48-41) early in the second stanza.  A Benitez' second-chance lay-up would further push the Patriots up by nine (50-41) with 16:58 left, but FMU would not be able to extend their lead past nine points the rest of the second half.
 
Two free throws from Hairston would shrink the Patriots lead to three with 15:29 remaining (52-49). The Patriots and Bulldogs would stay neck-and-neck for the next few possessions.  Barton's Trevon Spencer knocked down two shots from the stripe to cut the Patriots lead to one point at 62-61 with 6:11 remaining.
 
A pair of Silva free throws, a three-pointer by Rollins, and a stick-back hoop from Pierce helped the Patriots lead by eight (69-61) with 4:08 left in the game. With 2:37 left, Pierce knocked down 1-of-2 attempts at the line to give FMU a 70-68 advantage.  The Bulldogs scored the game's final eight points, including taking their first lead of the game at 72-70 on an inside hoop by David Campbell with 1:21 on the clock.
 
The Patriots shot 36.8 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs knocked down 52.2 percent of their shots. At the stripe, FMU nailed 14-of-22, while Barton hit 25-of-32.
 
FMU held a 39-30 rebounding advantage and led 14-6 in second-chance points.

 
 
02/16/22 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
BARTON 76, FRANCIS MARION 70
BARTON (13-12,11-10 Conf)
Marcus Boykin 8-11 8-11 25; Donaven Hairston 3-8 10-10 17; Malik Bryant 6-9
1-2 13; Trevon Spencer 2-3 5-5 10; David Campbell 4-6 1-4 9; Caleb Reams 1-4
0-0 2; Dwayne Anderson 0-1 0-0 0; Jett Fortuny 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 25-32 76.
FRANCIS MARION (11-12,9-12 Confe)
Jose Benitez 5-10 6-8 16; Tionne Rollins 5-16 2-2 15; Jonah Pierce 6-11 1-2
13; Alex Cox 5-13 1-2 12; Nick Silva 1-4 4-8 7; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 3-8 0-0
7; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-0 0-0 0; Nari Jordan 0-2 0-0 0; Nieja Jordan 0-3 0-0
0; Ja'Von Anderson 0-1 0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 14-22 70.
Halftime: Francis Marion 41 Barton 37
3-point goals--Barton 3-11 (Trevon Spencer 1-1; Donaven Hairston 1-2; Marcus
Boykin 1-2; Caleb Reams 0-3; Jett Fortuny 0-3), Francis Marion 6-29 (Tionne
Rollins 3-11; Nick Silva 1-4; Alex Cox 1-6; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-5; Nieja
Jordan 0-2; Jose Benitez 0-1). Fouled out--Barton-None, Francis Marion-None.
Rebounds--Barton 30 (Marcus Boykin 9), Francis Marion 39 (Jonah Pierce 10).
Assists--Barton 12 (Marcus Boykin 4), Francis Marion 15 (Jose Benitez 5).
Total fouls--Barton 20, Francis Marion 25. Technical fouls--None. A-562