BANNER ELK, NC – Freshman guard Horaces Jacques Jr. drained a three-pointer as the final buzzer went off to give Francis Marion University a 93-90 road win over Lees-McRae College, Saturday (Jan. 13) in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.
 
The Patriots, now on a four-game win streak, advances to an overall record of 7-8 and 5-2 in Conference Carolinas league action.
 
Francis Marion will return to the court on Saturday (Jan. 20) against North Greenville University. The contest is set for 4 p.m. in Florence, S.C.
 
The game-winning shot came after the Patriots had squandered a five-point lead (90-95) with a minute remaining.
 
Senior forward Bryce Beamer paced the Patriots with 28 points and seven rebounds.  He connected on 11-of-17 field goal attempts, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, and was 2-of-2 at the line.  During the game, he surpassed 900 career points.
 
FMU junior forward Ibrahim Wattara posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jacques Jr. registered 13 points, while junior guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. scored 11, and senior guard Tionne Rollins 10.  Rollins handed out four assists, including the helper on the winning shot.
 
Timon Jones and Ja'Quavian Florence paced Lees-McRae with 16 points apiece.
 
The Bobcats (10-4, 4-1) opened the first half by scoring the first five points of the contest. A pair of buckets from Beamer and Jacques Jr. knotted the game at 7-7.
 
With a total of seven ties and seven lead exchanges, both teams continued to play head-to-head throughout the game. FMU outshot the Bobcats 44.4 percent to 40 percent from the three-point line in the first half.
 
With the score tied at 33-33, Lees-McRae closed the half with a 12-2 run to lead 45-35 at halftime.  Wattara tallied the final bucket for the Patriots with a dunk.
 
Despite trailing early in the second half, FMU fought their way back to a three-point deficit. Buckets from SaintCyr Jr. and Wattara closed that gap even more and brought the score to 77-76. A three-pointer by SaintCyr Jr. put the Patriots on top at 79-77 and they never trailed for the remainder of the game.
 
Francis Marion took their largest lead of the game at 90-84 with a made free throw from Jacques Jr.  A floater in the lane by Florence with 11 ticks remaining knotted the score at 90-90.
 
After a timeout, Rollins dribbled to the left side and then toward the paint, but stopped and dropped the ball back to Jacques for the game-winner.
 
In producing the comeback, Francis Marion shot 65.6 percent over the final 20 minutes, including 9-of-12 from three-point territory.

 
01/13/24 4:00 pm at Banner Elk, NC
FRANCIS MARION 93, LEES-MCRAE 90
FRANCIS MARION (7-8, 5-2)
Bryce Beamer 11-17 2-2 28; Ibrahim Wattara 8-11 3-3 19; Horaces Jacques Jr.
4-14 2-2 13; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 3-5 2-4 11; Tionne Rollins 3-5 1-2 10;
Adonis Cole 2-3 1-2 5; Marlow Gilmore Jr. 2-3 0-0 4; Niko Noumeros 1-2 1-2
3; Willie Patterson III 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-60 12-17 93.
LEES-MCRAE (10-5, 4-2)
Timon Jones 5-7 2-2 16; Ja'Quavian Florence 6-10 4-5 16; Jaylin Stewart 5-12
3-6 13; Nico Ashley 5-6 3-4 13; LJ  Rogers 5-6 0-0 13; Rodney Smith 3-7 3-4
9; Sidney Dollar 4-6 0-0 8; Williams Onyeodi 0-3 2-2 2; Jeremy Golson 0-2
0-0 0; Nigel Okwakol 0-0 0-0 0; Jalen Crowder 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-62 17-23 90.
Francis Marion................   35   58  -   93
Lees-McRae....................   45   45  -   90
3-point goals--Francis Marion 13-21 (Bryce Beamer 4-7; Farid SaintCyr Jr.
3-4; Horaces Jacques Jr. 3-6; Tionne Rollins 3-3; Ibrahim Wattara 0-1),
Lees-McRae 7-21 (Timon Jones 4-6; LJ  Rogers 3-4; Jaylin Stewart 0-2; Rodney
Smith 0-2; Sidney Dollar 0-1; Jeremy Golson 0-2; Jalen Crowder 0-2;
Ja'Quavian Florence 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Lees-McRae-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 37 (Ibrahim Wattara 10), Lees-McRae 23 (Nico Ashley
5). Assists--Francis Marion 13 (Tionne Rollins 4), Lees-McRae 13 (Jeremy
Golson 3; Jaylin Stewart 3). Total fouls--Francis Marion 18, Lees-McRae 15.
Technical fouls--None. A-437