CENTRAL, SC – Tyrin Hollis hit 1-of-2 free throws with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to lift Southern Wesleyan University to a stunning 85-84 win over Francis Marion University, Monday evening (Jan. 16) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion, which entered the D2SIDA Southeast Region rankings earlier in the day at the No.9 position, sees its five-game winning streak snapped as the Patriots drop to 10-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
 
FMU will play at the University of Mount Olive on Wednesday at 7 p.m., before returning home to host UNC Pembroke on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Sophomore 6-8 center Jonah Pierce led Francis Marion with a career-high 31 points on 14-of-19 shooting, while hauling down a game-high 15 rebounds and blocking four shots.  Senior guard Tionne Rollins scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while recording five rebounds and four assists.  Senior Alex Cox and sophomore Farid SaintCyr Jr. each scored nine points.
 
Hollis led the Warriors (3-15, 3-7) with 22 points and seven assists, while Marcus Long tallied 21 points and six rebounds.
 
Rollins gave FMU an 84-81 advantage on a lay-in with 40 ticks left, but Hollis knotted the game when he was fouled on a three-point attempt with 25 seconds remaining and hit all three shots.  On the following possession with the shot clock off, Rollins was fouled with four seconds left, but missed the front end of the 1-and-1 situation and the Warriors grabbed the rebound and called timeout.  Hollins was then fouled along the sideline near midcourt as he raced up the court setting the scene for his game-winning free throw.
 
An early 8-0 run gave Francis Marion a 10-4 lead to start the game.  SWU rallied to within 10-9, but the Patriots answered with a 15-3 spurt to take the largest lead of the contest at 25-12 with 10:05 left before halftime.
 
The Warriors responded with a rally and took a 36-34 lead on a pair of free throws by Raevon Allen at the 3:31 mark.  FMU then closed the half with a 9-2 run to carry a 43-38 margin into the locker room.
 
Two free throws by Rollins pushed the Patriot lead to nine (54-45) five minutes into the second half.  Southern Wesleyan answered with a 19-6 run to assume a 64-60 advantage near the midpoint of the half.
 
A pair of buckets by Rollins, a dunk by Pierce, and a floater by Cox gave Francis Marion a 71-66 lead with 7:25 left.  After a three-pointer by Allen, baskets by Pierce and SaintCyr Jr. pushed the margin to 75-69.  A four-point play by Hollis cut into the difference and the two teams would not be separated by more than four points the rest of the way.
 
Francis Marion shot a season-best 63.0 percent from the floor, but managed only three three-point makes, and were 13-of-23 at the free throw line.  SWU connected on 55.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 16-of-30 from behind the arc, and was 11-of-17 at the foul line.
 
FMU held commanding leads in points in the paint (52-20) and points off turnovers (26-15).  
 
 
01/16/23 7:00 pm at Central, SC
SOUTHERN WESLEYAN 85, FRANCIS MARION 84
FRANCIS MARION (10-5,7-2 Confere)
Jonah Pierce 14-19 3-5 31; Tionne Rollins 8-12 4-5 21; Farid SaintCyr Jr.
3-5 3-4 9; Alex Cox 4-8 1-2 9; Nick Silva 3-5 0-2 7; Yohan-Steve Yebga 1-3
2-4 4; Doug Alves 1-2 0-1 3; Adonis Cole 0-0 0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 34-54 13-23 84.
SOUTHERN WESLEYAN (3-15,3-7 Confere)
Tyrin Hollis 6-11 6-9 22; Marcus Long 9-12 0-1 21; Bryson Felder 7-16 0-0
18; Raevon Allen 5-7 3-5 17; Griffin Effenberger 2-4 0-0 5; Dyren Brown 0-2
2-2 2. Totals 29-52 11-17 85.
Halftime: Francis Marion 43 Southern Wesleyan 38
3-point goals--Francis Marion 3-14 (Nick Silva 1-2; Tionne Rollins 1-5; Doug
Alves 1-2; Alex Cox 0-3; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 0-2), Southern Wesleyan 16-30
(Bryson Felder 4-10; Raevon Allen 4-5; Tyrin Hollis 4-8; Marcus Long 3-4;
Griffin Effenberger 1-3). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Tionne Rollins; Farid
SaintCyr Jr., Southern Wesleyan-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 30 (Jonah
Pierce 15), Southern Wesleyan 25 (Marcus Long 6). Assists--Francis Marion 18
(Doug Alves 4; Tionne Rollins 4; Alex Cox 4), Southern Wesleyan 24 (Griffin
Effenberger 7; Tyrin Hollis 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion 20, Southern
Wesleyan 21. Technical fouls--None. A-102