FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore guard Troy Santos scored a season-high 17 points in his first start as a Patriot, but Francis Marion University dropped an 82-67 decision to long-time rival Lander University, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 29) on the final day of the 2025 FMU Thanksgiving Classic.  Columbus State University edged Chowan University 71-68 in Saturday's opening contest.
 
Francis Marion falls to 1-6 and will play its next three contests on the road, beginning with a Dec.13 game at Georgia Southwestern State University.  Tip-off is at 3 p.m.
 
Santos drained a trio of three-pointers and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line.  He also handed out three assists and recorded two steals.  Junior guard AuMauri Tillman scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor in 30 minutes of action off the Patriot bench.
 
FMU senior swingman Adonis Cole and sophomore forward Clyde Mauldin added eight points apiece, with Cole leading the Patriots on the boards with six rebounds.
 
Freshman point guard Jacob Daniels led Lander (5-1) with 21 points and six assists, as six Bearcats scored in double figures.
 
The Bearcats scored the game's opening seven points and never trailed.  The margin grew to 17-6, before lay-ups by senior Farid SaintCyr Jr. and senior swingman Cole Deptula and a put-back dunk by senior center Duncan Alevok cut the deficit to 17-12 with 9:43 before halftime.
 
Lander responded with a 16-0 run to push the advantage to 33-12.  FMU answered with10 consecutive points – including six by Tillman – to pull within 33-22, but the Bearcats scored the next five points to go up 38-22 at intermission.
 
Francis Marion outscored Lander 45-44 over the final 20 minutes, but was never able to cut the margin to less than 12.  A three-pointer by Tillman with 7:10 on the clock made the margin 65-53, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.
 
FMU shot 32.3 percent from the floor and was 20-of-24 at the free throw stripe, while Lander hit 53.3 percent of its field goal attempts and was 10-of-16 at the foul line.
     
It was the 107th all-time meeting between the two former NAIA District Six and NCAA Division II Peach Belt Conference rivals, the most frequently played opponent in Patriot hoops history.  The series dates back to the third contest of Francis Marion's first season on Nov. 23, 1970.