BANNER ELK, NC – Senior forward Bryce Beamer scored a career-high 26 points to lead Francis Marion University to a come-from-behind 113-105 win over Lees-McRae College, Wednesday evening (Jan. 4) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
The Patriots improve to 5-1 in conference play and 8-4 overall. They will return to the Smith University Center on Saturday (Jan. 7) to host King University (Tenn.) for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
 
Beamer racked up his career high on an efficient 11-15 shooting, while also bringing down eight rebounds.  Senior guard Alex Cox followed with 25 points, while sophomore center Jonah Pierce racked up his fourth double-double of the season on a 17-point, 13- rebound outing. Senior guard Tionne Rollins contributed 13 points and nine assists, while harassing on defense with six steals.
 
Junior guard Nicholas Cross led the Bobcats (5-10, 1-6) with 21 points.
 
FMU shot 58% from the field in the second half to erase a 14-point halftime deficit (63-49), outscoring the Bobcats 64-42 in the final period. The 113 points poured in by the Patriots was the program's highest point total in three seasons.
 
In the opening minutes of the contest, Lees-McRae led 10-9 over FMU before quickly building a 22-11 lead. A three-pointer by sophomore forward Nick Silva quickly followed up by a layup from Cox helped trim the lead to single digits, before a flurry of back-and-forth scoring saw the Bobcats restore their lead 38-28.
 
With 6:14 left in the first half, Cox drilled a three pointer to cut the lead to five, before the Bobcats ended the half on a 19-10 run, heading into intermission with the 63-49 lead.  Lees-McRae nailed 12-of-20 three-pointers over the opening 20 minutes.
 
FMU senior guard Doug Alves quickly set the tone for the Patriots, grabbing an offensive rebound and swishing a three-pointer 13 seconds into the second half. The Patriots clawed out of their halftime deficit, using a 29-14 run capped off by a pair of Rollins free throws at 10:00 to give FMU their first lead (78-77) since early in the first half.
 
The lead quickly changed hands before a three-pointer by sophomore guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. with 7:23 put the Patriots up 86-84. A lay-in by Beamer and a windmill dunk by SaintCyr Jr. upped the margin to 92-87.
 
After the Bobcats crept to within 94-92, two alley oops from Rollins to Pierce within 1:47 of each other energized an 8-0 spurt putting Francis Marion up 102-92 with two minutes left, and ensuring the Patriots remain in the fight at the top of conference standings.
 
Francis Marion connected on 57.7 percent of its shots, including 15-of-31 from behind the three-point arc, while draining 16-of-21 free throws.  Lees-McRae shot 55.1 percent from the floor, including 18-of-34 from long range, and was 11-of-17 at the stripe.
 
FMU also held a commanding 52-35 edge in points-in-the-paint.
 
 
01/04/23 7:00 pm at Banner Elk, NC
FRANCIS MARION 113, LEES-MCRAE 105
FRANCIS MARION (8-4, 5-1)
Bryce Beamer 11-15 0-1 26; Alex Cox 8-14 5-6 25; Jonah Pierce 8-14 1-4 17;
Farid SaintCyr Jr. 6-11 0-0 15; Tionne Rollins 4-11 4-4 13; Nick Silva 2-2
4-4 9; Doug Alves 1-2 2-2 5; Darius Jones 1-1 0-0 3; Adonis Cole 0-0 0-0 0;
Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-1 0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 41-71 16-21
113.
LEES-MCRAE (5-10, 1-6)
Justin Nichelson 8-10 1-2 21; Jeremy Golson 6-8 3-3 20; Williams Onyeodi
9-11 0-1 18; Brandon Brown 3-5 5-5 13; Sidney Dollar 3-7 1-3 10; Jaylin
Stewart 4-9 0-0 8; Nico Ashley 2-6 0-0 6; Timon Jones 2-7 0-0 6; Thomas
McIntosh 1-1 1-1 3; Gabe Bryant 0-0 0-0 0; Nicholas Cross 0-1 0-0 0; Drew
Redmond 0-1 0-0 0; LJ  Rogers 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 38-69 11-17 105.
Halftime: Lees-McRae 63 Francis Marion 49
3-point goals--Francis Marion 15-31 (Bryce Beamer 4-7; Alex Cox 4-8; Farid
SaintCyr Jr. 3-6; Darius Jones 1-1; Nick Silva 1-1; Tionne Rollins 1-5; Doug
Alves 1-2; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-1), Lees-McRae 18-34 (Jeremy Golson 5-7;
Justin Nichelson 4-6; Sidney Dollar 3-3; Timon Jones 2-5; Brandon Brown 2-2;
Nico Ashley 2-5; Nicholas Cross 0-1; LJ  Rogers 0-3; Jaylin Stewart 0-1;
Williams Onyeodi 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Lees-McRae-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 37 (Jonah Pierce 13), Lees-McRae 31 (Sidney Dollar
6). Assists--Francis Marion 22 (Tionne Rollins 9), Lees-McRae 27 (LJ  Rogers
6). Total fouls--Francis Marion 15, Lees-McRae 16. Technical fouls--Lees-McRae-Sidney Dollar. A-328