MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Francis Marion University defeated Mount Olive University 103-102 on Wednesday (Jan. 3) night in a triple-overtime marathon, with Patriot senior forward Marlow Gilmore Jr. posting a career-high 28 points on a record-tying shooting performance.
 
The night's game is only the third triple-overtime contest in program history, with the other two being losses to USC Aiken in 1979 and the College of Charleston in 1980.
 
Francis Marion (4-8, 2-2) will return to the floor on Saturday (Jan. 6) against King University. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. in Bristol, Tenn.
 
Gilmore Jr.'s 12-of-12 shooting night from the floor tied the FMU single-game record set previously by Jonah Pierce in a 2022 win over North Greenville University and by Bob Graziano in a 68-63 victory over Wofford College on Nov. 17, 1983.
 
Trailing behind Gilmore Jr. on Wednesday was senior forward Bryce Beamer with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Beamer also grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Francis Marion.
 
Just two rebounds and one assist shy of becoming the only the third Patriot to record a triple-double, freshman guard Horaces Jacques Jr. registered a career-high tying 14 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds.
 
Two other Patriots scored in double digits with junior forward Ibrahim Wattara and junior guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. registering 15 and 12 points respectively.  Wattara also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to post his first double-double as a Patriot.
 
Mount Olive's Shane Peterson led the Trojans (1-12, 0-3) with a career-high 26 points.
 
Kicking off the opening half, Gilmore Jr. was the first to score with a driving lay-up. Both teams playing bucket for bucket continued to remain within a two-point margin of each other, with Mount Olive pulling away by six points at 26-20. Jacques Jr. pulled the Patriots back within three points after sinking a deep three-pointer.
 
The Trojans collected a nine-point lead over Francis Marion later in the first half, but a pair of made shots from Beamer and Wattara closed the gap once again. Just before halftime, a pair of free throws from Beamer brought FMU to within two-points at 44-42.
 
Entering the second half, Gilmore Jr. went to work and scored the first seven points for FMU. It proved to be another half of each team fighting for the lead evidenced by eight lead changes (18 for the game). With 27 seconds left in regulation, senior guard Tionne Rollins made a momentum changing lay-up and the and-one free throw to reclaim the lead by two points at 83-81. However, a jumper from the right corner by UMO's Redford Dunton as the horn sounded knotted the game at 84-84 and forced overtime.
 
Knocking down a three-pointer from the corner in overtime, SaintCyr Jr. extended the Patriots' margin to four, but the Trojans tied it once again at 89-89. Trailing by two with 34.1 seconds left, Wattara grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to tie the game at 91-91.  Both teams had shots to win the game, but were unsuccessful, forcing a second overtime.
 
Opening the second overtime, Beamer took a three-point advantage with a shot from well beyond the arc. Jacques continued to widen the margin with another made three-pointer. Completing the seventeenth lead exchange of the night, Mount Olive led with just two points with 23 seconds left. Beamer's put-back after a short shot from Wattara just beat the buzzer and tied the game (98-98) for the thirteenth time and carried the game into the third overtime of the night.
 
Sinking a pair of free throws, Wattara extended the lead to 100-98 for FMU. After a final tie at 100-100, the Patriots took the lead for the final time at 101-100 on a free throw by Jacques Jr. and a fast-break lay-in by sophomore guard Adonis Cole – off a Rollins' assist – put the Patriots up 103-100.  Two free throws drew Mount Olive to within 103-102, but neither team would score over the final 1:46.
 
 
01/03/24 7:00 pm at Mount Olive, NC
FRANCIS MARION 103, MOUNT OLIVE 102  3OTs
FRANCIS MARION (4-8,2-2)
Marlow Gilmore Jr. 12-12 4-6 28; Bryce Beamer 6-11 4-5 18; Ibrahim Wattara
6-14 3-3 15; Horaces Jacques Jr. 4-15 4-8 14; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 4-8 2-4 12;
Tionne Rollins 2-13 4-6 8; Adonis Cole 3-4 0-0 6; Willie Patterson III 1-1
0-0 2; Chandler O'Bannon 0-0 0-0 0; Niko Noumeros 0-2 0-0 0; Matthew Lee 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 38-80 21-32 103.
MOUNT OLIVE (1-12,0-3)
Shane Peterson 8-17 5-5 26; Aaron Murphy 7-15 1-3 19; Redford Dunton 5-18
7-11 19; Josiah Watkins 3-7 4-4 11; Brent Randleman 4-8 1-5 9; Trey Nelson
3-8 2-4 9; Kahlif Barnes 3-6 0-3 6; Ryan Roberts 1-3 0-0 3; Kennard Davis
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-82 20-35 102.
Francis Marion..............   42   42    7    7    5  -  103
Mount Olive...................   44   40    7    7    4  -  102
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-29 (Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-5; Bryce Beamer
2-5; Horaces Jacques Jr. 2-9; Niko Noumeros 0-2; Tionne Rollins 0-6; Ibrahim
Wattara 0-2), Mount Olive 14-38 (Shane Peterson 5-13; Aaron Murphy 4-6;
Redford Dunton 2-9; Josiah Watkins 1-2; Trey Nelson 1-4; Ryan Roberts 1-3;
Brent Randleman 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Marlow Gilmore Jr., Mount
Olive-Ryan Roberts. Rebounds--Francis Marion 52 (Bryce Beamer 11), Mount
Olive 50 (Josiah Watkins 10). Assists--Francis Marion 23 (Horaces Jacques
Jr. 9), Mount Olive 26 (Trey Nelson 14). Total fouls--Francis Marion 25,
Mount Olive 23. Technical fouls--None. A-111