SAINT LEO, FL – Saint Leo University held off a late Francis Marion University rally with clutch free throw shooting and the hot-shooting Lions claimed a 107-99 non-conference victory over the visiting Patriots, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 18) in men's basketball play.
 
Francis Marion (2-3) continues its 10-game road swing to begin the season with a 2 p.m. contest at Wingate University on Wednesday.
 
Senior forward Bryce Beamer led FMU with his second double-double in as many nights as he tallied 30 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.  He connected on 11-of-18 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and was 4-of-5 at the foul line.  
 
Four other Patriots also reached double digits led by sophomore swingman Adonis Cole with a career-high 13 points.  Junior forward Niko Nuomeros posted 12 points and five rebounds in his best outing as a Patriot and sophomore forward Chandler O'Bannon registered a career-high 12 points and five assists.
 
Patriot senior forward Marlow Gilmore Jr. added 11 points and senior guard Tionne Rollins chipped in nine points and nine assists.
 
Francis Marion shot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 10-of-32 from three-point territory, and was 13-of-18 at the free throw stripe.
 
Guard Logan Ryan led six Lions scoring in double figures with 21 points.  Saint Leo (2-2) connected on 62.9 percent of its field goal attempts, including 10-of-23 from deep, and was 19-of-24 at the foul line.
 
Saint Leo needed only two made buckets over the final five minutes as the Lions drained 15-of-19 charity tosses to hold off the Patriots.
 
SLU snapped an early 13-13 deadlock with a 15-2 spurt and the Lions would never trail again.  FMU trimmed the margin to seven four times, the final time at 42-35 after a thunderous dunk by Gilmore Jr., before Saint Leo carried a 46-36 advantage to the locker room at intermission.
 
A trio of three-pointers by the Lions helped extend the margin to 20 points at 66-46 with 14:29 remaining in the game.  A coast-to-coat drive by Cole capped a 7-0 spurt and drew Francis Marion to within 72-61 near the midway point of the second half.  However, Saint Leo pushed the lead back to 18 (88-70) after an alley-oop dunk by Cantia Rahming with 6:26 on the clock.
 
A stick-back by Beamer with 1:01 left did get the margin under double figures at 100-92, but the Patriots ran out of time.
 
 
11/18/23 2:30 pm at Saint Leo, FL
SAINT LEO 107, FRANCIS MARION 99
FRANCIS MARION (2-3)
Bryce Beamer 11-18 4-5 30; Adonis Cole 4-5 4-6 13; Niko Noumeros 4-9 3-4 12;
Chandler O'Bannon 5-8 1-1 12; Marlow Gilmore Jr. 5-8 1-2 11; Tionne Rollins
4-12 0-0 9; Ibrahim Wattara 4-7 0-0 9; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-7 0-0 3; Willie
Patterson III 0-3 0-0 0; Horaces Jacques Jr. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 38-79 13-18 99.
SAINT LEO (2-2)
Logan Ryan 8-14 2-2 21; Kanon Koster 5-8 7-8 18; Grant Disken 4-10 6-7 16;
Greyson Pritzl 5-8 2-2 15; Cantia Rahming 6-8 1-3 13; Joseph Locandro 6-8
0-0 12; Amar Hot 3-3 0-0 7; Jeremy Sanchez 1-1 1-2 3; Marshawn Robinson 1-2
0-0 2; Alex Sherwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-62 19-24 107.
Halftime: Saint Leo 46 Francis Marion 36
3-point goals--Francis Marion 10-32 (Bryce Beamer 4-8; Niko Noumeros 1-6;
Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-4; Tionne Rollins 1-6; Adonis Cole 1-2; Chandler
O'Bannon 1-2; Ibrahim Wattara 1-1; Willie Patterson III 0-1; Horaces Jacques
Jr. 0-2), Saint Leo 10-23 (Greyson Pritzl 3-4; Logan Ryan 3-8; Grant Disken
2-7; Kanon Koster 1-2; Amar Hot 1-1; Joseph Locandro 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-Adonis Cole; Bryce Beamer, Saint Leo-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 35 (Bryce Beamer 10), Saint Leo 32 (Cantia Rahming
12). Assists--Francis Marion 30 (Tionne Rollins 9), Saint Leo 28 (Cantia
Rahming 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion 19, Saint Leo 16. Technical
fouls--None. A-402