CENTRAL, SC – Junior forward Jordyn Surratt paced Francis Marion University in the 88-85 win over Southern Wesleyan University on Saturday (Jan. 4) with 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal.
 
Francis Marion (4-9, 2-3) will return to the court on Wednesday (Jan. 8) to host Chowan University in Florence, S.C. at 7:30 p.m.
 
Senior guard Ibrahim Wattara registered a game-high and career-high of 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field while shooting 8-11 from the charity stripe. 
 
Junior guard Jordan Simpson chipped in 23 points, connecting on 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the three-points arc, while freshman guard Ramez Zayed scored a career-high of 15 points o 7-of-9 shooting and added four assists and three steals.
 
Simpson (8) and Wattara (6) combined for 14 of the team's total 38 rebounds.
 
Christopher Osobaye paced Southern Wesleyan (4-6, 2-2) with 24 points.
 
The Warriors opened with a seven-point spurt in the opening minutes of the game. A jumper from Simpson earned Francis Marion its first points to trail 7-2. At the 15:24 minute mark, the Patriots closed the gap to 15-8 before Southern Wesleyan opened the margin back to 19-8 at 14:02. A three-pointer from the wing by Arellano Jr. kicked off an eight-point spurt that brought the Patriots within one point at 31-30.
 
Before halftime, Southern Wesleyan had extended the margin to 45-37.
 
A pair of buckets from Simpson and Zayed cut the lead to 54-52 six minutes into the second half. Zayed and Simpson combined once again to knot the score at 54-54, before exchanging leads for the first time at 56-54.
 
Francis Marion and SWU continued to exchange leads for the remainder of the second half before a nine-point run opened the Patriots' lead to 77-69. The Patriots extended the lead to seven points (81-74) with just four minutes left in the second half.   Wattara made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:05 to help seal the victory.  After SWU's final bucket with 10 seconds left, FMU quickly inbounded the ball and was able to run out the clock without the Warriors having a chance to foul.
 
Wattara, Simpson, and Zayed combined for 44 of Francis Marion's 51 second-half points.