FERRUM, VA – Despite a career-high 23 points from junior guard Kennard Davis on Wednesday night (Feb. 18), Francis Marion University was unable to overcome a double-digit halftime deficit in a 92-79 loss at Ferrum College in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action.

The Patriots (7-18, 7-10) return to the Smith University Center for the final three contests of the regular season, beginning with a matchup against North Greenville University on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. Francis Marion will celebrate Senior Day prior to the game.

Davis converted 14-of-17 free throws while knocking down four-of-eight shots from the floor. He also added five assists and one rebound in 35 minutes on the court. Senior swingman Cole Deptula finished with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds in 36 minutes. Senior forward Adonis Cole reached double-figures with 10 points while tallying six rebounds in 22 minutes.

Rodrigo Farias of Ferrum (14-9, 13-5) scored a game-high 25 points.

In the first half, the two sides exchanged buckets over the initial 10-plus minutes of the game as the Panthers held a slight 13-12 edge. Ferrum extended the lead to 22-15 following a short run before Davis scored four of the next five points for Francis Marion to close the gap to 22-20 with 2:46 left. In the final 2:29 of the first half, Ferrum mounted a 13-0 run to head into halftime with a 15-point advantage, 35-20.

With under 12 minutes left in the second half, the Panthers held a 27-point lead, the largest of the game, at 58-31. The Patriots showed resilience over the next four-plus minutes with an impressive 21-5 rally as Deptula and Davis combined for 13 points, 63-52. Ferrum managed to extend its lead to 75-60 with 3:45 remaining before Francis Marion made a final push with a 12-7 run to trim the deficit to 82-72 with nearly two minutes to go. The Panthers made a perfect eight-of-eight from the free-throw line to seal the win, 92-79.

Francis Marion finished the contest shooting 23-of-53 (43.4 percent) from the floor while converting 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Ferrum posted a .450 field goal percentage (27-of-60) and made 32-of-37 (86.5 percent) from the free-throw line. The Panthers finished with a 39-32 rebounding advantage with 42 points in the paint. The Patriots tallied 15 points off the bench and 20 points in the paint.