FLORENCE, SC - Junior forward Jordyn Surratt led five Patriots in double figures with 15 points, but Francis Marion University came out on the losing end of 103-70 decision to local-rival UNC Pembroke on Wednesday (Feb. 19) night in Conference Carolinas men's play.
 
The Patriots (9-16, 7-10) will host Emmanuel University on Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon at 4 p.m. during Homecoming festivities.  With it being the final regular-season home contest, FMU will also celebrate Senior Day.
 
FMU freshman center Alex Atkinson tallied 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman guard Ramez Zayed also chipped in 11 points, while senior forward Ibrahim Wattara and junior guard Jordan Simpson each scored 10 points.
 
Dallas Gardner paced UNC Pembroke (19-6, 16-2) with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor.
 
The Braves jumped out to an early 11-5 lead, a margin that UNC Pembroke would maintain for the remainder of the game. By the 7:16 mark of the first half, Francis Marion fell into a 31-17 deficit and later the Patriots trailed 36-18.
 
Atkinson broke through two defenders for a bucket at the rim to close the gap back to 16 points, 36-20, before the Braves used a 20-8 run to expand the margin to 56-28 at halftime.
 
At the 13:09 mark, UNC Pembroke led by 34 points (75-41). However a bucket from Zayed reduced the Braves' lead to 84-60 with seven minutes left in the second half, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.