SPARTANBURG, SC – Senior point guard Doug Alves recorded a career-high of 20 points to help seventh-seeded Francis Marion University eliminate 10th-seeded King University (Tenn.) with a 100-80 victory, Sunday evening (Feb. 26) in the opening round of the Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
Francis Marion (14-13) will return to the court quickly on Monday (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. as they face sixth-seeded Converse University in the second round on the Valkyries' home floor.
 
Alves shot 7-of-9 from the floor, including 2-of-2 three-pointers, and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Alex Cox dropped 18 points and was a pest on the defensive side with five steals.
 
FMU senior guard Tionne Rollins and forward Bryce Beamer both posted 15 points, while Rollins grabbed a season-high nine boards and dished out a game-high six assists.  Sophomore guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. scored all 12 of his points in the first half, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and sinking two three-pointers.
  
The Patriots were red hot from behind the arc in the first half after Beamer and Alves knocked in one each in the opening minutes while jumping out to an 11-7 lead. A corner three from SaintCyr Jr. increased the lead to nine at 18-9; and moments later, two free throw makes from Cox pushed the Patriots ahead to a 10-point lead at 24-14.
 
FMU sparked a 7-0 run after the charity stripe trip, with a three-pointer from Beamer and two difficult layups scored by Cox. The Tornado answered with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the Patriot lead to six at 31-25 with 7:38 left in the half.
 
A pair of steals and layups from Rollins and Cox bumped the advantage to 13 at 40-27. A three-point play by Alves with 3:24 on the clock put the advantage at 46-32. After a Tornado layup at 48-34, the Patriots scored seven straight including a slashing dunk from Pierce to grab their largest lead in the half of 21 points at 55-34. King knocked in a layup with one second on the clock to bring the deficit below 20 points at 55-36 at halftime. Beamer, Cox, and SaintCyr Jr. all scored double figures in the opening stanza.
 
Opening the second half, Rollins knocked down a pull-up jumper to push FMU ahead by 21 points once again at 59-38. The Tornado patiently stormed back with a 15-2 run and shrunk the Patriot lead to eight points at 61-53. With 9:52 left on the clock, King pulled within five at 70-65, but that would be the closest the Tornado would get as the Patriots used a 12-1 spurt to start an impressive 30-13 finish after that point to end the second half.
 
Alves scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half, while Rollins scored 10 and grabbed six rebounds over the final 20 minutes.
 
Five Tornado scored in double figures, with guard Michael Mays leading the charge for King (7-22) with 22 points.
 
The Patriots made over half of their shots at a 54.8% rate, while the Tornado converted 47.1% of their field goal attempts. FMU was 9-of-22 from behind the arc, while holding King to 4-of-17. The Patriots outscored the Tornado 28-6 on fast break points and held a 24-12 points-from-turnovers margin.
 
 
02/26/23 5:00 pm at Spartanburg, SC
FRANCIS MARION 100, KING (TN) 80
KING (TN) (7-22)
Michael Mays 8-16 4-5 20; Brandon Lamberth 8-17 0-1 17; Darron Howard 5-10
0-0 13; Myles McCrary 4-5 2-3 10; Jaylen Bernard 3-12 4-4 10; Henry Okoye
2-6 0-0 4; Amarius Beasley 2-2 0-1 4; Jordan Akal 1-2 0-0 2; Ziven Clark 0-0
0-0 0; Josh Jackson 0-0 0-0 0; Malik Payton 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Black 0-0 0-0
0; Eric Sanders 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-70 10-14 80.
FRANCIS MARION (14-13)
Doug Alves 7-9 4-4 20; Alex Cox 7-12 4-5 18; Bryce Beamer 5-15 2-2 15;
Tionne Rollins 7-14 0-0 15; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 5-6 0-0 12; Adonis Cole 4-5
1-2 9; Jonah Pierce 4-7 0-2 8; Darius Jones 1-4 0-0 3; Yohan-Steve Yebga 0-0
0-0 0; Asante Turner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 40-73 11-15 100.
Halftime: Francis Marion 55 King (TN) 36
3-point goals--King (TN) 4-17 (Darron Howard 3-6; Brandon Lamberth 1-2;
Jaylen Bernard 0-4; Henry Okoye 0-1; Jordan Akal 0-1; Michael Mays 0-3),
Francis Marion 9-22 (Bryce Beamer 3-7; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-3; Doug Alves
2-2; Darius Jones 1-4; Tionne Rollins 1-4; Alex Cox 0-2). Fouled out--King
(TN)-None, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--King (TN) 38 (Jaylen Bernard 7),
Francis Marion 37 (Tionne Rollins 9). Assists--King (TN) 12 (Brandon
Lamberth 3; Michael Mays 3), Francis Marion 20 (Tionne Rollins 6). Total
fouls--King (TN) 12, Francis Marion 15. Technical fouls--None. A-150