Francis Marion falls to Puerto Rican squad 92-60 in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - The Francis Marion University men's basketball team completed its trip overseas with a 92-60 loss to Capitanes de Arecibo of Puerto Rico, Monday (Dec. 29) in the seventh-place game of the Amsterdam Haarlem Basketball Week tournament.

All four of the games the Patriots played were against international competition and did not count in the squad's official NCAA records.  Francis Marion will return home by way of Atlanta on Wednesday.  FMU will return to its 2008-09 slate on Saturday afternoon with a Peach Belt Conference game at Georgia Southwestern State University.

Senior 6-7 forward Kevin Clark again led Francis Marion as he connected on 5-of-12 shots and tallied 15 points.  Junior 6-7 forward Matt French scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.  Junior Anthony Wallen chipped in eight points and 6-9 senior center Stanley Jones added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Playing under FIBA rules, Francis Marion trailed only 18-12 at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 26-12 in the second frame to trail 44-24 at intermission.

The Patriots shot only 30 percent in the opening 20 minutes, compared to the Puerto Ricans' 50 percent (16 of 32).

Capitanes de Arecibo held a 20-4 advantage in points at the free throw, connected on 12 of 30 three-point attempts, and outrebounded the Patriots 50-34.

Capitanes de Arecibo had four players score in double figures led by 6-5 forward Angel Figueroa with 15 and Eric Rodriguez Mandes with 14.

This was the first-ever trip outside of the United States for the Patriot basketball program.  They were the only American squad in the eight-team competition, which has the Israeli National Team and EclipseJet MyGuide Amsterdam, two teams from FMU's original pool, playing in Wednesday's final.

Capitanes de Arecibo def. Francis Marion University 92-60

Date: 12/29/2008   Site: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Capitanes de Arecibo (92)

Osiris Ricardo  1-2, 1-3, 3; Jonathan Monrouzeau  0-0, 0-0, 0; Edgardo Ramirez  0-2, 2-2, 2; Eric Rodriguez Mandes 5-9, 0-0, 14; Wilfredo Pagan  3-6, 0-0, 8; Rafael Cruz Lopez  3-5, 7-10, 13; Raul Rivera  2-3, 3-4, 7; David Cortes Ruiz  4-10, 2-2, 11; Angel Rosa Clemente  3-7, 3-6, 9; Eddin Santiago  3-9, 0-0, 8; Angel Figueroa 5-5, 2-4, 15; Jeffrion Aubry  1-5, 0-4, 2; Team Totals  30-63, 20-35, 92.

Francis Marion University (60)

Crayton Jones 1-1, 0-0, 2; Brynjar Bjornsson 3-6, 0-0, 6; Kendrick Robinson 0-5, 0-0, 0; Mark Sinkler 0-0, 0-0, 0; Harry Austin 1-4, 0-0, 2; Simel Boyd 3-7, 0-0, 6; Anthony Wallen 3-6, 0/0, 8; Stanley Jones 3-11, 1-1, 7; Sam Smith 1-4, 0-0, 2; Kevin Clark 5-12, 3-5, 15; Matt French 5-10, 0-0, 12; Team Totals 25-66, 4-6, 60.

Halftime: Capitanes de Arecibo 44  Francis Marion 24.

Three-point field goals: Capitanes de Arecibo 12-30 (Mandes 4, Figueroa 3, Pagan 2, Santiago 2, Ruiz 1), FMU 6-14 (Clark 2, French 2, Wallen 2); Rebounds: Capitanes de Arecibo 50 (Aubry 12), FMU 34 (S. Jones 8); Assists: Capitanes de Arecibo 17 (Lopez 6), FMU 13 (Robinson 3); Total fouls: Capitanes de Arecibo 10, FMU 26; Fouled out: none; Technical fouls: C. Jones.

Score by Quarters:                    1 Qtr  2 Qtr     3 Qtr      4 Qtr    Total

Capitanes de Arecibo                  18         26         26           22           92

Francis Marion University             12         12         14           22           60