FLORENCE, SC – Senior guard Alex Cox led five starters in double-digit scoring with 20 points on Thursday (Feb. 24), but Francis Marion University fell to the University of Mount Olive 98-95 in overtime to end the Patriots first regular season in the Conference Carolinas.
 
FMU (12-14, 10-14) will return to the court on Sunday at 5 p.m. as the Patriots face King University in the first round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament in Mount Olive, N.C.  The winner of that contest will face UMO on Monday at 7 p.m.
 
Junior guard Tionne Rollins followed behind Cox with 19 points, while freshmen forward Nick Silva posted 16 points and seven rebounds. Freshmen forward Jonah Pierce had 13 points and 12 rebounds, giving him nine double-double this season. Freshmen guard Jose Benitez recorded 10 points and led the team in assists with eight.  For Cox, it was his final appearance in the Smith University Center and left the three-year starter with 619 career points.
 
Mount Olive guard Darius Spragley led the Trojans (15-12, 14-9) with 27 points, while guard Michael Brown registered 16 points and 12 assists.
  
The first half would start in favor of the Trojans with a Cole Johnson jumper, but would be followed up by a fast-break floater by Cox to even the score at 2-2. The Trojans would be all gas no breaks after the Cox basket. Mount Olive would lead by as much as 12 points, at 20-8 and later 26-14, until the Patriots would begin to shrink the deficit. A layup from graduate student forward Neija Jordan brought the difference down to five before three-pointers from both Silva and Rollins boosted the Patriots ahead by one (31-30).
 
The Patriots and Trojans would fight back and forth for the lead, but UMO would enter the locker room ahead 54-49. The Patriots shot an amazing 71.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
 
FMU would come out of halftime looking to take the lead back after an alley-oop hoop from Benitez to Jordan put the Patriots ahead 57-56. A Pierce dunk with 16:07 left in the half pushed the Patriots ahead by three (61-58). A few trips to the line from sophomore guard Ja'Von Anderson and a couple FMU buckets swelled the Patriots advantage to 70-60 near the midway point of the second half.
 
The Trojans answered quickly with two three-pointers from Johnson to shrink the Patriots lead to three (72-69). UMO would regain the lead after a Jeremiah Phifer three-pointer and a trip to the stripe (77-74).
 
FMU went back ahead with 3:09 remaining and lead by as many as four (86-82) with 15 ticks left in regulation. UMO's Spragley drained a three-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock, and following Silva making 1-of-2 free throws, Brown scored on a fast break driving layup with less than a second remaining to advance the contest to overtime.
 
A layup by Silva to start the overtime period gave the Patriots a two-point lead, but would be answered quickly by a Trojan three-pointer from Spragley to reclaim the lead (90-89). A bucket and a free throw for Rollins gave FMU a two-point lead, but again the Trojans answered with  a three-pointer from Alan Treakle to go up 93-92.
 
Two free throw makes from Mount Olive's Derreco Miller gave the Trojans a three-point lead (95-92) with 16 seconds left, and following an FMU turnover Brown made 1-of-1 free throws to up the margin to 96-92. A three-point play by Cox cut the Trojan lead to one (96-95), before a Matthias Caver dunk with 1.5 seconds remaining extended the lead to 98-95. A desperation half-court shot by Cox rimmed out as the horn sounded.
 
Francis Marion shot a season-high equaling 60.0 percent from the floor. FMU also shot 60.0 percent in their November win at Mount Olive. The Trojans shot 52.1 percent from the floor. At the stripe, Francis Marion knocked down 14-of-25 free throws, while UMO hit 11-of-13.
 
Francis Marion outrebounded the Trojans 40-28 and led 13-6 in second-chance points.

 
 
02/24/22 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
MOUNT OLIVE 98, FRANCIS MARION 95   OT
MOUNT OLIVE (15-12,14-9 Confe)
Darius Spragley 11-20 1-1 27; Michael Brown 7-15 1-3 16; Jeremiah Phifer 5-8
1-1 13; Cole Johnson 4-9 2-2 13; Derreco Miller 3-3 4-4 10; Alan Treakle
4-10 0-0 9; Matthias Caver 3-4 0-0 6; Trayvon Ferrell 1-3 2-2 4; Jordan
Lynch 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-73 11-13 98.
FRANCIS MARION (12-14,10-14 Conf)
Alex Cox 8-11 4-5 20; Tionne Rollins 8-14 1-1 19; Nick Silva 6-11 3-6 16;
Jonah Pierce 5-7 3-6 13; Jose Benitez 5-9 0-0 10; Nieja Jordan 4-5 0-1 8;
Ja'Von Anderson 1-3 3-4 5; Yohan-Steve Yebga 2-2 0-0 4; Farid SaintCyr Jr.
0-3 0-2 0. Totals 39-65 14-25 95.
Halftime: Mount Olive 54 Francis Marion 49. Regulation 87-87.
3-point goals--Mount Olive 11-35 (Darius Spragley 4-8; Cole Johnson 3-8;
Jeremiah Phifer 2-5; Alan Treakle 1-7; Michael Brown 1-6; Jordan Lynch 0-1),
Francis Marion 3-7 (Tionne Rollins 2-4; Nick Silva 1-1; Farid SaintCyr Jr.
0-1; Alex Cox 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Mount Olive 28 (Trayvon
Ferrell 6), Francis Marion 40 (Jonah Pierce 12). Assists--Mount Olive 26
(Michael Brown 12), Francis Marion 22 (Jose Benitez 8). Total fouls--Mount
Olive 17, Francis Marion 15. Technical fouls--None. A-693