MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Sophomore center Jonah Pierce recorded his third straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, but Francis Marion University was unable to stop a University of Mount Olive second-half surge and dropped a 95-88 Conference Carolinas decision, Wednesday night (Jan. 18) in men's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion falls to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play. FMU will host 10th-ranked and first-place UNC Pembroke in the second installment of the Battle of I-95 on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
It was Pierce's seventh double-double of the season, and he connected on 8-of-11 field goal attempts.  Three other Patriots also scored in double figures led by senior forward Bryce Beamer's team-high 23 points.  Senior guard Alex Cox registered 16 points and seven assists, while senior guard Tionne Rollins finished with 13 points.
 
Michael Brown matched Beamer's 23 points to lead Mount Olive (6-12, 4-6) in scoring.
 
Trojans guard Kaeleb Carter scored the first bucket of the contest with a three pointer 12 seconds into the contest. At the 15:25 mark, a layup by UMO's Aaron Murphy gave the Trojans their biggest lead of the half at 17-6.
 
A layup by Cox capped off a 24-13 run by the Patriots to put them on top 30-29 at the 7:15 mark in the first stanza. After trading baskets back and forth, Pierce's layup gave FMU a six-point advantage heading into the break, 48-42.
 
An 8-2 run to start the second half helped the Trojans tie the game at 50-50, before a smooth layup by Rollins quickly restored the Patriots' lead. A Pierce layup tied the contest at 69 apiece, but the Trojans stormed out in front on a 9-0 run with 7:30 left to swing momentum back in their favor.
 
A layup by junior guard Darius Jones capped off an 11-0 FMU run to cut the Trojans' lead to three points at 91-88 with 31 seconds left.  FMU got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession, but missed on a lay-up with 22 ticks remaining that could have cut the margin to one.  Four free throws by Trayvon Ferrell over the final 20 seconds sealed the win for the Mount Olive.  The Trojans connected on 20-of-30 second half shots.
 
For the game, Francis Marion shot 49.3 percent from the floor, including hitting nine of their 30 shots from long range, while Mount Olive connected on 57.1 percent of their attempts, including 14-of-30 from behind the arc.
 
FMU nudged by Mount Olive in the rebounding category with a 34-32 advantage, and held an 18-9 edge in points-off-turnovers.
 
 
01/18/23 7:00 pm at Mount Olive, NC
MOUNT OLIVE 95, FRANCIS MARION 88
FRANCIS MARION (10-6, 7-3)
Bryce Beamer 8-13 4-4 23; Jonah Pierce 8-11 3-5 19; Alex Cox 6-11 3-4 16;
Tionne Rollins 5-11 0-0 13; Darius Jones 3-8 0-0 7; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-6
1-1 6; Doug Alves 1-6 0-1 2; Adonis Cole 0-0 2-2 2; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-0
0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-67 13-17 88.
MOUNT OLIVE (6-13, 4-6)
Michael Brown 9-13 0-1 23; Trayvon Ferrell 9-12 4-4 22; Colin Radcliffe 7-11
0-0 18; Shane Peterson 3-9 2-2 11; Kaeleb Carter 3-6 0-0 7; Brent Randleman
2-3 0-2 4; Aaron Murphy 2-4 0-0 4; Isaiah Bridges 1-2 0-0 3; Ryan Roberts
0-2 2-2 2; Jikari Johnson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 36-63 9-13 95.
Halftime: Francis Marion 48 Mount Olive 42
3-point goals--Francis Marion 9-30 (Bryce Beamer 3-8; Tionne Rollins 3-6;
Darius Jones 1-5; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-3; Alex Cox 1-4; Asante Turner 0-1;
Doug Alves 0-3), Mount Olive 14-30 (Michael Brown 5-6; Colin Radcliffe 4-8;
Shane Peterson 3-8; Isaiah Bridges 1-1; Kaeleb Carter 1-4; Ryan Roberts 0-1;
Aaron Murphy 0-1; Trayvon Ferrell 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Tionne
Rollins, Mount Olive-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 34 (Jonah Pierce 12),
Mount Olive 32 (Trayvon Ferrell 8). Assists--Francis Marion 22 (Alex Cox 7),
Mount Olive 27 (Michael Brown 9). Total fouls--Francis Marion 17, Mount
Olive 17. Technical fouls--None. A-235