FLORENCE, SC - With 15 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, junior forward Jordyn Surratt posted his third consecutive double-double and led Francis Marion University to an 80-74 victory over King University, Saturday (Jan. 25) afternoon in Conference Carolinas men's play.
 
Francis Marion (7-11, 5-5) will play at Chowan University on Wednesday (Jan. 29) with a tip-off time of 7 p.m.  (PLEASE NOTE the date as earlier schedules had the game on Tuesday)
 
FMU junior forward Latavian Lawrence scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and matched Surratt with four assists of his own. Lawrence also corralled eight rebounds out of the team's total of 51.
 
Junior guard Jordan Simpson tallied 17 points, shooting 7-of-10 at the free throw line, while senior guard Ibrahim Wattara chipped in 11 points and six boards.
 
Mikhail Pocknett led the Tornado (9-10, 7-4) with a game-high 27 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 11-of-18 the foul line.  He also hauled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
After trailing 12-7 in the opening minutes of the first half, Francis Marion climbed back for a one-point advantage at 13-12. A lay-up by Surratt lifted the Patriots to a three-point lead (17-14) at the 10:31 mark, before King exchanged leads once again, going up 19-17.
 
A second-chance bucket from Wattara kept Francis Marion within two points at 26-24 before a backcourt violation on the Tornado allowed the Patriots to knot the score at 26-26 on another inside hoop from Surratt. Simpson landed a mid-range jumper to gain the lead (28-26) with 2:27 left.
 
A minute before halftime, Lawrence drained a three-pointer from the corner and later Simpson put away 1-of-2 from the free throw line allowing FMU to hold a narrow 32-31 halftime lead.
 
Francis Marion opened the second half with a 10-point spurt that boosted the Patriots to a 42-31 lead. Back-to-back buckets in the paint by Patriot freshman guard Ramez Zayed and a fast-break lay-in by Lawrence widened the margin to 14 points (53-39) at the 13:00 mark.
 
Another three-pointer from the corner, this time from junior forward Andres Arellano Jr. gave the Patriots a lead of 14 points at 69-55 with 6:46 left. Francis Marion grabbed its largest lead of the night at 73-57 after a lay-in by Wattara with 4:56 remaining.
 
A frantic 17-5 run by the Tornado trimmed the margin to 78-74 with 15.8 seconds on the clock, but Lawrence sealed the decision with two free throws with six ticks left.
 
Francis Marion held a commanding 48-28 edge in points-in-the-paint.