TIGERVILLE, SC – Sophomore guard Horaces Jacques Jr. scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting, but Francis Marion University fell 92-78 to North Greenville University on Wednesday (Feb. 26) evening. 
 
The Patriots finish their regular season 10-18 overall and 8-12 in Conference Carolinas play.  FMU will be the 10th seed in the conference tournament and will play ninth-seeded University of Mount Olive in the first round on Sunday (March 2) at 7 p.m. at Young Harris College in Georgia.  The Patriots swept the Trojans during the regular season. 
 
FMU freshman forward Alex Atkinson tallied his ninth consecutive double-digit game with 16 points, six blocks, and five rebounds, while junior forward Jordyn Surratt chipped in 15 points.
 
Junior guard Jordan Simpson was the fourth Patriot in double figures as he registered 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
 
Michael Wilson Jr. paced the Trailblazers (10-19, 6-14) with a game-high 32 points, while connecting on 9-of-15 shots from the floor and 13-of-16 from the free throw line. 
 
After FMU led in the opening minutes, North Greenville knotted the score at 10-10, before the Patriots pulled ahead once again as Jacques Jr. scored two for a 13-12 margin.
 
The Trailblazers regained the lead as Savion Brown drained a three-point shot to lead 15-14. NGU got in front of FMU with a five-point advantage, 19-14, before buckets from Simpson and Surratt tied the game at 19-19.
 
With 5:12 left to play in the first half, Francis Marion trailed 28-23 following a five-point run from the Trailblazers.   A steal and dunk from Simpson closed the margin to one point (28-27) with 3:11 left in the first half. The Trailblazers answered with another five-point run that allowed them to cruise to a halftime advantage of 36-30.
 
Two back-to-back baskets from Jacques Jr. and Atkinson cut North Greenville's lead back to seven points, 44-37, with 16:06 minutes of play left in the second half. NGU reopened the margin to 63-47, equaling the Trailblazer's largest lead of the night.
 
The Patriots climbed back to within six points at 68-62 after a lay-in by Surratt with 5:52 left, before six straight points keyed a late run that put North Greenville back in front 86-70. Two shots made at the charity stripe from Simpson cut the score to 86-74 at the 1:32 mark, but the Trailblazers used their sizable lead to coast to the finish.