BRISTOL, TN – A pair of throws by junior guard Tionne Rollins with one second remaining gave Francis Marion University an 88-86 road victory over King (Tenn.) University, Saturday night (Feb. 5) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball play.
 
FMU, improves to 9-11 overall and 7-11 in league play, and will return to the Smith University Center on Friday (Feb. 11) at 7:30 p.m. to host North Greenville University.
 
Rollins led the Patriots with a career-high 32 points. The Tallahassee, Fla., native hit 8-of-14 field goal attempts, including a near school-record 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, and drained 10-of-10 free throws equaling the sixth-best single-game performance in team history.  The school accuracy mark for three-point shooting is 5-of-5.
 
Reigning Conference Carolinas Freshmen of the Month, center Jonah Pierce ended with 22 points and 12 rebounds – his seventh double-double of the year. He connected on 11-of-17 shots and his point total was one shy of his career high.  Freshmen forward Nick Silva posted 13 points, while freshmen guard Jose Benitez added 11 points and six assists.
 
King's Michael Mays recorded 29 points, while Brandon Lamberth added 14 points. 
 
A jumper from King's Mays posted the first score of the afternoon, but would be answered shortly by a Silva three-pointer to push the Patriots ahead 3-2. Two jumpers in the paint for the Tornado gave King a 15-12 lead with 15:29 remaining in the first half.
 
The Tornado extended their lead to 22-17 after a three-pointer from Darron Howard with 9:52 on the clock.  A jump shot in the paint from FMU freshmen guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. ignited an 11-0 spurt that put the Patriots on top 28-22. Late in the half, a three-pointer by Benitez helped the Patriots to a 10-point lead at 41-31, but King rallied to with a 12-2 run to pull within 43-41 at intermission.
 
The beginning of the second half was a back-and-forth affair. King got a jumper from Lamberth to push the Tornado's lead to five with 15:37 left in the game (60-55). Back-to-back threes from Rollins allowed the Patriots to quickly regain the lead at 61-60, but a Howard three-pointer put the Tornado up 63-61.
 
King pushed its lead up to six with 10:51 left in the contest and maintained the lead until 3:14 left in the half after a dunk by Pierce and a three-pointer by Rollins evened the score at 80-80. The game was knotted at 82, 84, and 86 until Rollins was fouled with one tick remaining and he made the decisive charity tosses.
 
FMU finished the contest shooting 54.2 percent from the field, while King finished at 49.3 percent. The Patriots knocked down 10-of-19 shots from beyond the arc and the Tornado hit 6-of-12. Both teams drained 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
 
 
02/05/22 4:30 pm at Bristol, TN
FRANCIS MARION 88, KING (TN) 86
FRANCIS MARION (9-11,7-11 Confer)
Tionne Rollins 8-14 10-10 32; Jonah Pierce 11-17 0-0 22; Nick Silva 4-12 3-5
13; Jose Benitez 5-5 0-1 11; Alex Cox 2-6 0-0 5; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-3 0-0
4; Ja'Von Anderson 0-0 1-2 1; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-0 0-0 0; Nieja Jordan 0-0
0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-2 0-0 0; Matthew Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 14-18 88.
KING (TN) (10-11,7-10 Confe)
Michael Mays 9-16 8-9 29; Brandon Lamberth 7-12 0-0 14; Isaiah Curry 6-9 0-0
12; Darron Howard 4-7 0-1 11; Connor Jordan 2-5 5-6 9; Desmond Davis 3-6 1-2
7; Kenny Turner 1-2 0-0 2; J'Son Brooks 1-3 0-0 2; Shan Jenkins 0-1 0-0 0;
Jaylen Bernard 0-6 0-0 0; Blake Atwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-67 14-18 86.
Halftime: Francis Marion 43 King (TN) 41
3-point goals--Francis Marion 10-19 (Tionne Rollins 6-7; Nick Silva 2-5;
Jose Benitez 1-1; Alex Cox 1-3; Asante Turner 0-2; Jonah Pierce 0-1), King
(TN) 6-12 (Michael Mays 3-7; Darron Howard 3-3; J'Son Brooks 0-1; Jaylen
Bernard 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, King (TN)-J'Son Brooks.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 34 (Jonah Pierce 12), King (TN) 32 (Isaiah Curry
6). Assists--Francis Marion 17 (Jose Benitez 6), King (TN) 9 (Connor Jordan
4). Total fouls--Francis Marion 15, King (TN) 17. Technical fouls--Francis
Marion-Tionne Rollins, King (TN)-Brandon Lamberth. A-423