FLORENCE, SC – In the Battle of I-95 with local-rival UNC Pembroke on Wednesday (Jan. 24) evening, Francis Marion University fell short 91-72 in men's action.
 
The Patriots (8-9, 6-3) are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 27) at Erskine College with a tip-off time set for 4 p.m. in Due West, S.C.  The loss snaps the Patriots' five-game winning streak.
 
Pacing Francis Marion was senior guard Tionne Rollins who tallied a game-high 21 points while shooting 6-of-12 from the field and making a trio of three-pointers.
 
FMU senior forward Bryce Beamer and junior forward Ibrahim Wattara each added 12 points respectively, while freshman guard Horaces Jacques Jr. chipped in 10 points.
 
Javonte Waverly paced the Braves (14-4, 8-1) with 19 points.
 
Opening the first half, Rollins and sophomore guard Adonis Cole tallied the first five points of the contest. UNCP knotted the score at 12-12 on a lay-up made by Amare Miller, but Francis Marion continued pushing for points. The Braves led by as many as eight, at 28-20, but the Patriots rallied to within 31-30 after a pair of free throws by Rollins.  UNCP held a 40-34 lead at halftime.
 
Entering the second half, FMU began working on chipping away at the deficit.  A free throw by Jacques Jr. trimmed the margin to 42-39, but a nine-point run from the Braves extended UNC Pembroke's lead to 51-39 and they never trailed for the remainder of the game. A driving layup by Rollins got FMU to within eight at 61-53 with 12:06 on the clock, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.
 
The final Patriot bucket was collected by freshman guard Jy Gladden on a fast-break lay-in between multiple defenders.
 
UNCP shot 60.0 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes, while holding Francis Marion to 29.0 percent shooting over the same period of time.

 
 
01/24/24 7:30 pm at Florence, SC
UNC PEMBROKE 91, FRANCIS MARION 72
UNC PEMBROKE (14-4,8-1)
Javonte Waverly 7-10 3-3 19; Elijah Cobb 8-12 0-0 16; Bradlee Haskell 2-7
8-9 13; Dallas Gardner 4-6 3-4 11; Amare Miller 5-5 0-0 11; Josh Berenbaum
2-3 2-3 7; Jamarvious Jones 2-8 0-0 6; Cortez Marion-Holmes 1-3 2-4 4;
Amadou Faye 1-1 0-0 2; Nygell Verdier 0-4 2-2 2; Kam O'Connor 0-1 0-0 0; Zy
McLean 0-1 0-0 0; Tyreik McCallum 0-0 0-0 0; Will Gray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
32-61 20-25 91.
FRANCIS MARION (8-9,6-3)
Tionne Rollins 6-12 6-8 21; Ibrahim Wattara 4-7 3-9 12; Bryce Beamer 4-12
3-4 12; Horaces Jacques Jr. 3-16 4-6 10; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-6 2-3 6;
Marlow Gilmore Jr. 0-1 6-6 6; Adonis Cole 1-3 1-3 3; Jy Gladden 1-1 0-0 2;
Austin Harrell 0-2 0-0 0; Willie Patterson III 0-0 0-0 0; Chandler O'Bannon
0-0 0-0 0; Niko Noumeros 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-60 25-39 72.
UNC Pembroke..................   40   51  -   91
Francis Marion................   34   38  -   72
3-point goals--UNC Pembroke 7-24 (Jamarvious Jones 2-8; Javonte Waverly 2-5;
Bradlee Haskell 1-5; Josh Berenbaum 1-1; Amare Miller 1-1; Nygell Verdier
0-1; Kam O'Connor 0-1; Zy McLean 0-1; Elijah Cobb 0-1), Francis Marion 5-22
(Tionne Rollins 3-6; Bryce Beamer 1-4; Ibrahim Wattara 1-1; Austin Harrell
0-2; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 0-3; Horaces Jacques Jr. 0-6). Fouled out--UNC
Pembroke-Josh Berenbaum; Bradlee Haskell, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--UNC
Pembroke 48 (Amare Miller 11), Francis Marion 29 (Adonis Cole 7).
Assists--UNC Pembroke 21 (Bradlee Haskell 7), Francis Marion 12 (Ibrahim
Wattara 3). Total fouls--UNC Pembroke 25, Francis Marion 18. Technical
fouls--UNC Pembroke-Bradlee Haskell; Jamarvious Jones, Francis Marion-None.
A-1147