FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore center Jonah Pierce returned to the Francis Marion University line-up after a one-game absence and produced his eighth double-double of the year with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Patriots used perhaps their best effort of the season to down second-place Barton College 82-65, Tuesday evening (Jan. 24) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
FMU (11-7, 8-4) will play host to Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the annual NABC Coaches versus Cancer Game.  Cut out shoe images will be available for $1 purchase with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.  The Patriots climb to within one game of third place in the standings.
 
Pierce scored his game-high total on 8-of-12 shooting and added three assists and a blocked shot.  It was the 6-8 Sanford, Fla., native's fourth double-double in as many outings.
 
Sophomores Farid SaintCyr Jr. and Nick Silva both came off the FMU bench to score 13 points apiece, while senior Alex Cox added 11 and senior Tionne Rollins 10.  Rollins also handed out a team-high six assists.  Senior forward Bryce Beamer chipped in nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
 
Sophomore guard Caleb Reams led Barton (11-8, 9-3) with 16 points.  The Patriots held guard Marcus Boykin, the conference's fourth leading scorer at 21.6 points per game, to only nine points on 3-of-11 shooting.
 
FMU held Barton to 36.5 percent shooting as a team, the Patriots' third-best defensive effort of the year, and the Bulldogs manages to hit only 1-of-20 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Barton built an early 12-7 lead and still led by four (20-16) with 9:50 remaining in the first half.  An 11-1 run by the Patriots erased that deficit and put FMU ahead to stay.  A pull-up three pointer by Rollins just inside the final minute gave Francis Marion a 36-28 advantage at halftime.
 
Five consecutive points by Pierce to open the second stanza pushed the margin to 41-28.  Following buckets by Jarrian Hancock and Boykin on the next two Bulldog possessions, FMU responded with a 12-2 spurt that produced a 53-34 lead after a three-pointer by SaintCyr Jr. at the 13:35 mark.
 
The Patriots lead ballooned to 23 points, at 63-40, after another three-pointer by SaintCyr Jr.  FMU's largest lead of the night came at 75-51 when Pierce converted an offensive stick-back hoop with 5:01 remaining.
 
For the game, Francis Marion connected on 47.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including 8-of-27 from long range, and the Patriots were 12-of-19 at the foul line.
 
FMU outrebounded the Bulldogs 51-31 and held a 19-10 edge in second-chance points.
 

 
01/24/23 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 82, BARTON 65
BARTON (11-8, 9-3)
Caleb Reams 7-10 1-1 16; Trevon Spencer 4-12 2-2 10; Dwayne Anderson 4-6 2-2
10; Marcus Boykin 3-11 3-5 9; Miguel Shaw 4-4 0-0 8; Jarrian Hancock 2-5 0-1
4; Reese McDonald 1-12 2-2 4; Cameron Lawson 1-5 0-0 2; Donaven Hairston 1-7
0-0 2; Gabe Kirkendoll 0-0 0-0 0; Tre Morgan 0-0 0-0 0; Shawn Nelson 0-2 0-0
0. Totals 27-74 10-13 65.
FRANCIS MARION (11-7, 8-4)
Jonah Pierce 8-12 1-1 17; Nick Silva 4-9 4-10 13; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 4-6 2-2
13; Alex Cox 4-10 2-2 11; Tionne Rollins 4-9 0-0 10; Bryce Beamer 4-7 0-0 9;
Adonis Cole 1-2 2-2 4; Darius Jones 1-6 0-0 2; Doug Alves 1-4 0-0 2; Zy'Kee
Knox 0-0 1-2 1; Austin Harrell 0-0 0-0 0; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-0 0-0 0;
Asante Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 12-19 82.
Halftime: Francis Marion 36 Barton 28
3-point goals--Barton 1-20 (Caleb Reams 1-3; Trevon Spencer 0-3; Dwayne
Anderson 0-1; Marcus Boykin 0-2; Reese McDonald 0-5; Cameron Lawson 0-3;
Donaven Hairston 0-2; Shawn Nelson 0-1), Francis Marion 8-27 (Farid SaintCyr
Jr. 3-4; Tionne Rollins 2-6; Nick Silva 1-4; Alex Cox 1-4; Bryce Beamer 1-3;
Doug Alves 0-2; Darius Jones 0-4). Fouled out--Barton-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--Barton 31 (Jarrian Hancock 6; Marcus Boykin 6),
Francis Marion 51 (Jonah Pierce 14). Assists--Barton 13 (Marcus Boykin 4),
Francis Marion 20 (Tionne Rollins 6). Total fouls--Barton 17, Francis Marion
14. Technical fouls--FMU-Jonah Pierce. A-607