ROME, GA – Freshman center Alex Atkinson totaled 22 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks in Francis Marion University's 82-73 road win over Shorter University on Monday (Feb. 24) evening.
 
The Patriots (10-17, 8-11) will play their last regular-season game on Wednesday (Feb. 26) against North Greenville University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Tigerville, S.C.
 
Senior forward Ibrahim Wattara connected on 8-of-10 shots from the floor, accumulating 19 points, while junior guard Jordan Simpson and junior forward Jordyn Surratt scored 12 and 10 points respectively.
 
Ja'Myas Davis paced Shorter University (5-20, 3-16) with a team-high of 19 points and six rebounds.
 
After falling behind 17-6 in the opening minutes of the first half, Francis Marion struck back with a five-point spurt to make it a one-possession game, 19-15 at the 11:49 mark.
 
A 10-point run ignited by mid-range jumper from the elbow by junior Latavian Lawrence then allowed the Patriots to overtake the Hawks and lead 25-21 with 7:44 left on the clock. A pair of free throws at the charity stripe from Surratt lifted FMU to a score of 32-29, but Shorter crawled back to trail 32-31.
 
Francis Marion stayed in front of Shorter for the remainder of the half with the teams going into the half with a score of 36-34.
 
Shortly following the start of the second half, Shorter exchanged leads and pulled ahead 47-40. A 10-point run for the Patriots knotted the game at 50-50. Simpson knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to put FMU up 58-54 at the 8:29 mark.
 
Another long-range shot from behind the arc by Simpson extended Francis Marion's advantage to 68-60. As the Patriots had 2:21 on the clock, Jacques Jr. laid in a basket and gave FMU its first double-digit lead of the night at 74-63.
 
The Patriots held the lead for the remainder of the game.