BELMONT, NC – Francis Marion University falls a step behind in tournament positioning after falling to Belmont Abbey College 107-68, Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion drops to 13-8 overall and 10-6 in conference play, while the Crusaders improve to 14-8 and 11-5 and earn a split of the season series. FMU will conclude its three-game road trip with a visit to Tigerville to face North Greenville University on Tuesday (Feb. 7) at 7 p.m.
 
Senior guard Doug Alves led the Patriots with 12 points, while forward Bryce Beamer scored 11 points, and senior Alex Cox nine.
 
Guard Mason Taylor led Belmont Abbey with a career-high 26 points on 8-9 shooting, with a perfect 5-5 from the three-point arc.
 
Belmont Abbey never trailed in the contest, leading from the opening tip-off, and holding a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest after the 16:36 mark in the first half.
 
Belmont Abbey came out with momentum, building a lead up to 26-6 within the first 7:10 of the game. Cox drove in a layup to score the last points of the first half, but the Crusaders went into the break with a 57-29 advantage.
 
Belmont Abbey shot 22-of-35 from the field with an efficient 7-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half.
 
A 14-6 spurt to open the second half helped the Crusaders command a 72-35 advantage.  The lead grew to as much as 48 at one point.
 
Francis Marion shot 36.6 percent from the floor and was 10-of-14 at the foul line, while
Belmont Abbey hit 54.7 percent of its attempts, including 15-of-27 from behind the three-point arc.
 
 
02/04/23 4:30 pm at Belmont, NC
BELMONT ABBEY 107, FRANCIS MARION 68
FRANCIS MARION (13-8, 10-5)
Doug Alves 5-7 0-0 12; Bryce Beamer 4-10 2-3 11; Alex Cox 4-11 0-0 9; Jonah
Pierce 4-10 0-0 8; Asante Turner 2-6 2-2 7; Tionne Rollins 2-8 2-2 7; Adonis
Cole 1-3 3-4 5; Nick Silva 2-3 0-1 4; Yohan-Steve Yebga 1-5 1-2 3; Darius
Jones 1-4 0-0 2; Austin Harrell 0-1 0-0 0; Zy'Kee Knox 0-1 0-0 0; Farid
SaintCyr Jr. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-71 10-14 68.
BELMONT ABBEY (15-8, 11-4)
Mason Taylor 8-9 5-5 26; Kyle Frazier 5-6 4-5 17; Blake Hadley 5-8 1-1 12;
Charles Solomon 3-7 3-3 9; Mario Lacy, Jr. 4-7 1-4 9; Wade Jackson 3-7 0-0
8; KJ Garrett 2-5 3-4 7; Jaylen Jones 1-5 3-4 6; Ryan Maslow 2-4 0-1 6; Tom
Stanley 2-2 0-0 5; Adam Sommer 1-3 0-0 2; LoLo Francis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals
36-66 20-27 107.
Halftime: Belmont Abbey 57 Francis Marion 29
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-22 (Doug Alves 2-4; Tionne Rollins 1-3;
Bryce Beamer 1-4; Asante Turner 1-2; Alex Cox 1-4; Darius Jones 0-2; Austin
Harrell 0-1; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 0-1; Nick Silva 0-1), Belmont Abbey 15-28
(Mason Taylor 5-5; Kyle Frazier 3-4; Wade Jackson 2-6; Ryan Maslow 2-3; Tom
Stanley 1-1; Blake Hadley 1-1; Jaylen Jones 1-4; LoLo Francis 0-1; Adam
Sommer 0-2; KJ Garrett 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Belmont
Abbey-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 36 (Adonis Cole 6), Belmont Abbey 43
(Mario Lacy, Jr. 11). Assists--Francis Marion 12 (Tionne Rollins 2; Asante
Turner 2; Adonis Cole 2; Alex Cox 2), Belmont Abbey 24 (KJ Garrett 11).
Total fouls--Francis Marion 20, Belmont Abbey 18. Technical fouls--Francis
Marion-Darius Jones; Yohan-Steve Yebga; TEAM, Belmont Abbey-KJ Garrett;
Blake Hadley. A-404