FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Marlow Gilmore Jr. and sophomore forward Adonis Cole each scored 18 points and Francis Marion University used a good second-half defensive effort to defeat Belmont Abbey College 82-66 in the second round of Casualty Insurance Company Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament on Monday (Mar. 4) to advance to the quarterfinals.  
 
Fourth-seeded Francis Marion improves to 15-12 and will face fifth-seeded Barton College in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. on Friday at Wofford College's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Gilmore Jr. connected on 8-of-9 shots from the floor, while also grabbing down five rebounds. Cole's total was a career high for the Charleston native as he connected on 6-of-7 field goal attempts.
 
Senior forward Bryce Beamer recorded 12 points, while junior forward Ibrahim Wattara chipped in an additional 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  FMU senior guard Tionne Rollins paced the Patriots with seven assists. On the defensive end, junior guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. snatched a total of five steals.
 
Both Mason Taylor and DJ Holloway recorded 15 points to pace the Crusaders, who end their season 12-18.
 
A bucket by Cole gave FMU the lead for good at 11-9, although the Patriots would not shake the Crusaders for a while.  Leading 13-12, the Patriots ran off a 7-1 spurt that was highlighted by a steal and dunk by SaintCyr Jr. 
 
Belmont Abbey rallied to within 22-20 with 8:50 left before halftime. Three points from Cole and a fast-break dunk by Gilmore Jr. stretched the margin to 27-20.  Again Belmont Abbey rallied to within a bucket at 30-28, but Francis Marion then closed the half on a 12-4 run to exit at halftime leading 42-32.
 
After the Crusaders closed the margin to 46-42 early in the second stanza, the Patriots went on an eight-point run moving the score to 54-42.  Again, Belmont Abbey rallied and cut the deficit to 57-54 with 7:54 on the clock.  A minute later, Cole ignited a 13-1 game-deciding spurt that swelled the margin to 73-57 with three minutes left.
 
Francis Marion's largest lead came at 81-62 late in the second half as Beamer put away a lay-up.
 
Francis Marion forced 16 Belmont Abbey turnovers and led 25-9 in points-off-turnovers.  FMU connected on 50.9 percent of its field goal attempts, while holding the Crusaders to 37.7 percent.