BELMONT, NC – A career-high 20 points from freshmen guard Jose Benitez could not fend off a late Crusaders' run as Francis Marion University fell to Belmont Abbey College 99-94 on Tuesday (Feb. 22) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.  The Crusaders outscored FMU 21-6 over the final seven minutes.
 
FMU (12-13, 10-13) returns to the Smith University Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to host the University of Mount Olive in the final regular season contest of the Patriots' first season in Conference Carolinas.
 
Benitez shot 8-of-11 and grabbed three steals, while senior guard Alex Cox followed with 19 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Tionne Rollins posted 17 points and shot 5-of-5 from the stripe, while freshmen forward Jonah Pierce protected the glass with nine rebounds.
 
FMU sophomore guard Ja'Von Anderson recorded 11 points and graduate student forward Neija Jordan added 10 points.
 
Belmont Abbey (18-9, 16-7) was paced by forward Bosko Bojovic with 20 points, while forward Mario Lacy Jr. tallied 17 points and nine rebounds.
  
Patriots guard Benitez put the first two points on the board in the first seven seconds of the contest and shortly after, a three-pointer from Rollins extended the Patriots lead to five (5-0). The Crusaders grabbed their first lead after a three-pointer by Quest Aldridge put Belmont Abbey in front 15-12.
 
A layup from Cox and a three-pointer by Anderson helped FMU take the lead back and lead by two with 13:03 in the first half (19-17). Belmont Abbey posted their biggest lead of six points after two three-pointers from Crusaders and a free throw by Lacy Jr. (28-22).
 
A Cox jumper and three-pointer helped the Patriots take back the lead with 7:36 left on the clock (32-29). With 3:19 minutes left in the half and down four points, a three by Rollins and a layup from Jordan bumped FMU ahead by one point (43-42). The Crusaders and Patriots battled back and forth for the lead until a three by Rollins with 22 seconds left allowed the Patriots to go into the locker room up by three points (51-48).
 
FMU extended their lead quickly after three makes from Rollins at the free throw line and shortly after two Benitez free throw makes pushed the Patriots ahead by six (58-52). Following the Patriots quick spurt, three two-point makes by Lacy Jr. gave Belmont Abbey the lead back up by two (60-58).
 
A layup from Cox at the 14:10 minute sparked the Patriots first big run of the game (66-65). FMU's biggest lead came after a dunk from Jordan to extend the Patriot lead to seven (74-67). At 8:25, a layup by Cox would extend the Patriots to their largest lead yet of 10 points (85-75). The Patriots would again push their lead back up to 10 points after Pierce knocked down a shot from the stripe (88-78).
 
The Crusaders began to chip back at that Patriot lead run with a three-pointer from Sean Halloran and one from Emanuel Hernandez to shrink the FMU lead to one point. Hernandez followed up his three pointer with a mid-range make to reclaim the lead for Belmont Abbey (91-90). The Crusaders would hold a tight lead while Anderson sunk two shots from the stripe for the Patriots to bump Belmont Abbey's lead to one point (93-92). A layup by Benitez with 34 seconds remaining decreased the Crusaders lead down to two but would not be enough as the Crusaders earned a home victory.
 
The Patriots shot 46.8 percent from the floor while the Crusaders knocked down 53.8 percent. At the stripe, Francis Marion nailed 14-of-16, while Belmont Abbey hit 18-of-23.
 
 
02/22/22 7:00 pm at Belmont, NC
BELMONT ABBEY 99, FRANCIS MARION 94
FRANCIS MARION (12-13,10-13 Conf)
Jose Benitez 8-11 4-5 20; Alex Cox 8-12 0-0 19; Tionne Rollins 5-18 5-5 17;
Ja'Von Anderson 4-9 2-2 11; Nieja Jordan 5-7 0-0 10; Nick Silva 2-7 2-2 6;
Jonah Pierce 2-11 1-2 5; Yohan-Steve Yebga 2-2 0-0 4; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-2
0-0 2; Matthew Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-79 14-16 94.
BELMONT ABBEY (18-9,16-7 Confer)
Bosko Bojovic 7-9 6-6 20; Mario Lacy, Jr. 7-7 3-7 17; Sean Halloran 4-10 4-4
14; LJ McCoy 3-10 3-3 12; Quest Aldridge 4-8 0-0 10; Chandler Baker 4-9 0-0
9; Emanuel Hernandez 3-6 0-0 8; KJ Garrett 2-3 1-1 6; Charles Solomon 1-1
0-0 2; Ryan Maslow 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 35-65 18-23 99.
Halftime: Francis Marion 51  Belmont Abbey 48
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-25 (Alex Cox 3-6; Tionne Rollins 2-10;
Ja'Von Anderson 1-3; Jonah Pierce 0-1; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 0-1; Nick Silva
0-2; Nieja Jordan 0-1; Jose Benitez 0-1), Belmont Abbey 11-27 (LJ McCoy 3-6;
Quest Aldridge 2-4; Sean Halloran 2-6; Emanuel Hernandez 2-3; KJ Garrett
1-2; Chandler Baker 1-4; Ryan Maslow 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None,
Belmont Abbey-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 36 (Jonah Pierce 9), Belmont
Abbey 37 (Mario Lacy, Jr. 9). Assists--Francis Marion 12 (Tionne Rollins 3;
Jose Benitez 3), Belmont Abbey 23 (Quest Aldridge 5; Sean Halloran 5). Total
fouls--Francis Marion 16, Belmont Abbey 14. Technical fouls--None. A-395