BANNER ELK, NC – Senior guard Cole Deptula scored a career-high 34 points while knocking down eight three-pointers, as the Francis Marion University men's basketball program secured its first win of 2026 following a 77-64 win at Lees-McRae College on Saturday (Jan. 3) in Conference Carolinas action.

Francis Marion (3-9, 3-1) will play its first home game of the New Year on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7:30 p.m., as the Patriots host local-rival UNC Pembroke in a Conference Carolinas divisional contest.

Deptula was a sharpshooter for the Patriots after converting 11-of-17 from the floor and making 8-of-10 from three-point range. He fell one three-pointer short of tying the FMU single-game record, held by Robert Barber with nine three-pointers versus Erskine in 1989. Additionally, Deptula added seven rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes.

Graduate student guard Farid SaintCyr Jr. finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in 28 minutes. Fifth-year guard Patrick Antonelli delivered a breakout performance with eight points, nine assists, three rebounds, four steals, and two blocks in 33 minutes.

Justin Bramao led the Bobcats (5-9, 2-4) with a team-high 15 points.

In the first half, FMU made five-of-six from the field in the opening four minutes to hold a 13-8 advantage. The Bobcats closed the gap to 17-16 with 14:38 to go, but the Patriots countered with 10 unanswered points to stretch the lead to 26-15 with under 10 minutes left. Francis Marion continued its strong shooting performance in the closing minutes with a 16-4 run, led by Deptula with eight points, to pull ahead by a 42-21 margin. The sides traded baskets to finish the first half, as the Patriots led 50-27 at the break.

Lees-McRae scored seven straight points to begin the second half to cut the deficit to 50-34. Junior guard Jevon Brown halted the run with a three-point play, but the Bobcats rallied with an 11-2 run to trim the lead to 55-45 with 10:35 left. Francis Marion responded by converting five-of-seven shots with Deptula tallying seven points to extend the lead to 66-47. With FMU leading by a 70-60 margin with 3:24 remaining, the Patriots sealed the victory with a three-pointer by SaintCyr Jr and a perfect four-of-four shooting from the free-throw line to claim a 77-64 victory.

FMU shot at a 44.3 clip (27-of-61) from the floor while going 10-of-20 (50.0 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Lees-McRae finished the game shooting 41.5 percent (22-of-53) and converted 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) from the free-throw line. The Patriots held a 37-31 rebounding advantage with 21 points off 13 forced turnovers. The Bobcats tallied 38 points in the paint and 25 points off the bench.