FLORENCE, SC - Junior forward Andres Arellano Jr. paced Francis Marion University with a career-high 16 points in a 79-73 defeat of Erskine College on Saturday (Jan. 18) afternoon.
 
The Patriots (6-10, 4-4) will travel to Young Harris College to continue Conference Carolinas action on Monday (Jan. 20) at 5:30 p.m.
 
FMU junior guard Jordan Simpson tallied 15 points, while freshman forward Alex Atkinson chipped in 14 points, connecting on 6-of-8 shots from the field, and pulling down eight rebounds.
 
Securing another double-double, junior forward Jordyn Surratt registered 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Patriots. The final Patriot to score in double digits was junior forward Latavian Lawrence, who also posted 10 points.
 
Grant Lovette led the Flying Fleet (6-11, 3-7) with 19 points while shooting 7-of-15 from the floor.
 
Francis Marion opened the first half by jumping to a 14-0 advantage within the first six minutes, a lead the Patriots would never relinquish. By the 9:08 mark, the Patriots had opened the margin to 17 points after freshman guard Ramez Zayed blew by his defender for a quick lay-up.
 
Atkinson kept the momentum going to a 15-point lead (33-18) for FMU as he threw down a fast-break dunk with 6:40 left in the first half.
 
Erskine drew to within eight at 33-25, but Francis Marion gradually pulled away and after a pair of free throws from Lawrence just before halftime, FMU entered the break leading 47-33.
 
Shortly into the second half, Arellano and Simpson expanded the advantage to 16 points at 51-35. The Patriots kept the advantage, but Erskine closed the gap to 68-66 after a jumper by Lovette with 3:07 left.
 
Simpson scored the next four points and senior Ibrahim Wattara added a free throw to account for a 5-0 spurt.  Lovette again brought Erskine to within two (75-73) with a three-pointer with 18 ticks remaining.  Wattara then drained four free throws over the final 17 seconds to seal the win. 
 
FMU held a 48-23 rebounding advantage and led 14-0 in second-chance points.