FLORENCE, SC – Senior swingman Cole Deptula saw his three-point attempt at the final horn go in and then back out as Francis Marion University dropped a heart-breaking 65-63 decision to North Greenville University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) in Conference Carolinas play.
 
Francis Marion (7-19, 7-11) will play a rescheduled home contest on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. against Southern Wesleyan University.  It was originally slated for Jan. 31, but postponed due to the winter storm that weekend.
 
Deptula led FMU with 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists, as he closed to within 11 points of 1,000 for his career.  Sophomore forward Clyde Mauldin added 12 points and seven rebounds coming off the bench and senior Farid SaintCyr Jr. and junior Jaiden Cancela both chipped in 10 points apiece.
 
Deptula and SaintCyr Jr. were among a group of six seniors honored prior to tip-off on Senior Day.  The others were guard Patrick Antonelli, center Duncan Alevok, center Will Asken, and guard Jaden Broughton.
 
Senior guard Savion Brown and freshman swingman Carter Bobbitt paced the Trailblazers (17-10, 11-7) with 21 points each.
 
Francis Marion took early five-point leads at 11-6 and 13-8.  However, NGU erased that deficit with an 8-0 spurt to surge ahead 16-13 with 12:57 left before halftime.
 
The Trailblazers expanded an 18-14 advantage with a 21-6 run that left the Patriots trailing 39-20 with 3:48 on the first-half clock.  A three-point sequence by Wilson High School product Jevon Brown sparked a 10-0 Patriot run to close the half and trim the margin to 39-30 at intermission.  SaintCyr Jr. finished the run with a driving lay-up and a three-pointer.
 
North Greenville pushed the lead to 45-34 early in the second half, but FMU responded with an 11-2 spurt that brought the Patriots to within 47-45 after two free throws by Cancela.  Francis Marion finally got back on even terms at 50-50 when Maudlin scored on a lay-in off a feed from Deptrula with 7:57 remaining.  The Patriots took a 56-52 advantage after free throws by Cancela and a tip-in by Deptula with 6:39 left.
 
NGU regained the lead at 63-62 and eventually led 65-62 with 1:57 on the clock.  Cancela made 1-of-2 charity tosses with 1:20 left to make the score 65-63.  Defensively, FMU forced three turnovers and NGU missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity allowing the Patriots opportunities to tie or win the contest.  Deptula had a three-point attempt from the left corner blocked out of bounds with 1.4 seconds left.  On the in-bounds pass, he caught the ball at the left elbow extended and his three-pointer at the horn went in-and-out.   
 
Francis Marion shot 35.4 percent from the floor and hit 13-of-18 free throws, while North Greenville canned 43.4 percent of their field goal attempts and made 11-of-14 attempts from the foul line.
 
The Patriots held a 29-11 edge in bench points and led 34-22 in points in the paint.



(L to R) Cole Deptula, Will Asken, Jaren Broughton, coach Jake Zehnder, Farid SaintCyr Jr., Patrick Antonelli, Duncan Alevok