SPARTANBURG, SC – Fifth-seeded Barton College used a 24-0 second-half run to erase a 16-point Francis Marion University lead and the Bulldogs survived two potential tying three-point attempts in the final seconds to claim a 70-67 win over the Patriots, Friday morning (March 8) in the first quarterfinal game of the Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament.
 
Francis Marion, the four seed, ends its season at 15-13.
 
Senior guard Tionne Rollins, a third-team All-Conference selection, led FMU with 17 points, while first-team All-Conference selection Bryce Beamer scored 13 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in his final game as a Patriot.
 
Freshman point guard Horaces Jacques Jr. tallied 12 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, while senior forward Marlow Gilmore Jr. added 10 points.  Sophomore forward Adonis Cole equaled Beamer with nine boards.
 
Senior guard Donaven Hairston led Barton (15-15) with 22 points coming off the Bulldog bench.
 
An early 14-2 spurt by the Patriots, which included a pair of three-pointers by Rollins, carried FMU to a 19-6 advantage after only six minutes.  The margin grew to 23-9 after a lay-up by Beamer with 11:51 left before halftime.
 
Barton trimmed the margin to 27-21, but FMU freshman Willie Patterson III scored twice in the paint to help push the lead back to 33-21.  The Patriots led 36-26 at intermission as they held Barton to 23.5 percent shooting over the opening 20 minutes.
 
A dunk and lay-up by Gilmore Jr. and four points from Beamer expanded the advantage to 46-30 three minutes into the second stanza.
 
The Patriots would not score again until nearly eight minutes later as Barton scored 24 unanswered points to go ahead 54-46.  The Bulldogs still led by eight (58-50) with 7:25 left, but the Patriots scored 11 of the game's next 13 points to regain the lead at 61-60 on an inside hoop by Gilmore Jr. with 4:09 on the clock.
 
Three points from Bulldog guard Reese McDonald put Barton back up at 63-61.  A three-pointer by FMU sophomore Farid SaintCyr Jr. with 24 seconds left trimmed the deficit to 69-67.  After a Barton free throw extended the margin to 70-67, the Patriots missed three shots during their final possession – including two three-pointers – before the final horn sounded.
 
Francis Marion connected on 34.2 percent of its field goal attempts for the game and was 8-of-10 at the free throw stripe.
 
FMU second-year head coach Jake Zehnder pointed to the Barton zone defense in the second half as a difference in the contest.  "We were chopping them up against the man-to-man defense, but then they switched to the zone.  One stop turned into two stops and things started to unravel.  We took a couple of tough shots that didn't fall and those led to a first pass and a break. That's on me for not working on the zone more in practice.  We knew that ran it some and could show it.
 
"I told the guys in the locker room that maybe nine or 10 games ago, if we had lost a 16-point lead we might have folded, but tonight they showed resilience and heart and came back and retook the lead.  Down the stretch some things didn't go our way, but we stayed connected.
 
"I will miss the seniors.  They took a chance on me and we recorded our first winning season since 2019.  Looking forward, there are also some guys in the locker room that maybe now understand what it is going to take and what it means to win.  Hopefully they will lead a new generation of Patriots in the years to come."
 
Rollins ends his career with totals of 1,269 points, 326 assists, and 165 steals, while Beamer tallied 1,100 points and 473 rebounds.
 
 
03/08/24 11:00 am at Spartanburg, SC (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)
BARTON 70, FRANCIS MARION 67
BARTON (15-15)
Donaven Hairston 9-17 2-4 22; Trevon Spencer 6-13 5-8 17; Marko Krtinic 6-8
0-0 12; Reese McDonald 4-11 3-4 12; Jett Fortuny 1-4 0-0 3; Trey Crews 0-5
2-2 2; Shawn Nelson 1-4 0-0 2; Will Asken 0-1 0-0 0; Jarrian Hancock 0-0 0-0
0; Sean Quick-Streeter 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-66 12-18 70.
FRANCIS MARION (15-13)
Tionne Rollins 6-18 0-0 17; Bryce Beamer 5-13 2-2 13; Horaces Jacques Jr.
5-15 0-0 12; Marlow Gilmore Jr. 4-6 2-2 10; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 2-7 1-2 6;
Willie Patterson III 2-5 0-0 4; Adonis Cole 1-5 1-2 3; Ibrahim Wattara 0-4
2-2 2. Totals 25-73 8-10 67.
Barton........................   26   44  -   70
Francis Marion...........   36   31  -   67
3-point goals--Barton 4-22 (Donaven Hairston 2-6; Jett Fortuny 1-4; Reese
McDonald 1-4; Trey Crews 0-1; Shawn Nelson 0-2; Sean Quick-Streeter 0-2;
Trevon Spencer 0-3), Francis Marion 9-34 (Tionne Rollins 5-14; Horaces
Jacques Jr. 2-7; Bryce Beamer 1-6; Farid SaintCyr Jr. 1-4; Ibrahim Wattara
0-1; Willie Patterson III 0-2). Fouled out--Barton-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--Barton 46 (Trevon Spencer 7; Marko Krtinic 7),
Francis Marion 46 (Bryce Beamer 9; Adonis Cole 9). Assists--Barton 12 (Reese
McDonald 5), Francis Marion 15 (Horaces Jacques Jr. 7). Total fouls--Barton
9, Francis Marion 15. Technical fouls--None. A-222