Francis Marion University Athletics

EMORY, VA – The Francis Marion University men's basketball team opened its season with a 100-93 road victory over Emory & Henry College, with junior guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. scoring a career-high 23 points to lead on Saturday (Nov. 11) night.
 
Francis Marion (1-0) will return to the court on Sunday (Nov. 12) for the second day of the Conference Carolinas/South Atlantic Conference Challenge. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. against Lenoir Rhyne University.
 
SaintCyr Jr. earned his point total on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 
FMU fifth-year senior guard Tionne Rollins followed with 20 points and four assists, while junior forward Ibrahim Wattara scored 17 and red-shirt freshman forward Willie Patterson III registered 17 in his first collegiate contest. Patterson also combined with SaintCyr Jr. to lead the Patriots with five rebounds apiece.
 
Emory & Henry's junior guard Jalen Leftwich paced the Wasps (0-1) with 20 points, shooting 8-of-14 from the field.
 
Francis Marion shot 48.1 percent from the floor, including a 10-of-29 showing from behind the arc.
 
Although Emory & Henry held a slight advantage with 54.5 shooting percentage from the field, the Patriots held the Wasps to just 7-of-19 from the long range.
 
Homing in on defense, FMU forced 30 turnovers from the Wasps, and converted them into 31 points.
 
SaintCyr Jr. started the night with a made shot from well beyond the arc and pushed Francis Marion to an early 10-8 advantage. With the game knotted at 23-23, Patterson III went to the line and sank both free throws to give FMU the advantage once again. The first half continued to go bucket for bucket, with Wattara putting away the final three points of the first half. The Patriots entered halftime with just a two-point lead at 42-40.
 
Coming out quick in the second half, the Patriots used an 11-2 run to go up 53-44 on shots made by SainCyr Jr., Wattara, and senior forward Marlow Gilmore Jr. FMU would maintain the lead for the remainder of the game and take its lead up to an eventual 15 points advantage, the Patriots' largest lead of the game.  
 
 
11/11/23 5:30 pm at Meadowview, VA
FRANCIS MARION 100, EMORY & HENRY 93
FRANCIS MARION (1-0)
Farid SaintCyr Jr. 9-13 2-2 23; Tionne Rollins 7-16 3-3 20; Willie Patterson
III 5-11 7-8 17; Ibrahim Wattara 7-12 0-2 17; Marlow Gilmore Jr. 3-6 3-6 9;
Niko Noumeros 3-6 0-0 6; Horaces Jacques Jr. 2-10 1-3 5; Adonis Cole 1-2 0-0
3; Chandler O'Bannon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-77 16-24 100.
EMORY & HENRY (0-1)
Jalen Leftwich 8-14 6-8 22; Marshall Klug 5-9 2-4 15; Jake Moynihan 5-8 4-6
14; Gabe Brown 4-10 0-2 10; Jacob Dar 4-8 2-2 10; Cade Looney 4-6 0-0 8;
Patrick Antonelli 2-4 0-0 5; Keishawn Hampton 2-5 0-0 5; Lawrence Bartee 2-2
0-0 4; Omari Curley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-66 14-22 93.
Halftime: Francis Marion 42-40
3-point goals--Francis Marion 10-29 (Ibrahim Wattara 3-4; Tionne Rollins
3-7; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 3-6; Adonis Cole 1-2; Horaces Jacques Jr. 0-4; Niko
Noumeros 0-2; Marlow Gilmore Jr. 0-1; Willie Patterson III 0-3), Emory &
Henry 7-19 (Marshall Klug 3-6; Gabe Brown 2-7; Patrick Antonelli 1-2;
Keishawn Hampton 1-1; Jake Moynihan 0-2; Jalen Leftwich 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, Emory & Henry-Jake Moynihan. Rebounds--Francis
Marion 33 (Willie Patterson III 5; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 5), Emory & Henry 46
(Cade Looney 11). Assists--Francis Marion 11 (Tionne Rollins 4), Emory &
Henry 16 (Patrick Antonelli 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion 19, Emory &
Henry 20. Technical fouls--None. A-369