Charity Tosses doom Patriot Men in 89-71 loss at #11 USCA

AIKEN, SC - Eleventh-ranked USC Aiken made better use of its trips to the free throw line and rode that advantage to an 89-71 win over Francis Marion University, Wednesday night (Jan. 7) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.

Francis Marion (8-2) loses its second straight game and falls to 1-2 in the conference.  FMU concludes its three-game conference road trip on Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Patriots play at Columbus State University.  FMU's next home game will be Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. against local-rival UNC Pembroke.

Both teams were called for 27 fouls in the long game, but USCA drained 33-of-42 attempts at the line, while the Patriots were 17-of-33.  The Pacers made only one more field goal than FMU and both squads connected on six three-pointers.

Junior guard Kendrick Robinson scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to lead Francis Marion, while junior guard Anthony Wallen tallied 10 points.  Junior 6-7 forward Matt French added nine points and five rebounds before fouling out.

Chris Commons led the Pacers (8-3, 3-1) with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots.

USCA scored the final five points of the first half to lead 37-26 at intermission.  FMU managed to shoot only 29.6 percent over the opening 20 minutes.

The Patriots opened the second stanza with a 12-2 run that trimmed the deficit to one point, 39-38, following a jumper by French at the 16:03 mark.  A 7-0 spurt by the Pacers put FMU in a 51-40 hole with 14:25 left.  Again the Patriots rallied, this time cutting the margin to 55-49 on a free throw by Wallen with 12:45 remaining.

However, USCA gradually expanded the margin to double figures where the lead would remain for the final 10 minutes of the contest.  The Pacers were 25-of-30 at the line in the second half compared to 10-of-21 for FMU.

01/07/09 7:30 p.m. at Aiken, SC (Convocation Center)

#11 USC AIKEN 89, FRANCIS MARION 71

FRANCIS MARION (8-2, 2-1 PBC)

Robinson, Kendrick 6-15 3-6 18; Wallen, Anthony 3-12 2-4 10; French, Matt 4-7 1-2 9; Jones, Stanley 2-10 3-6 7; Clark, Kevin 3-5 1-1 7; Bjornsson, Brynjar 1-6 2-3 5; Smith, Sam 2-3 1-2 5; Boyd, Simel 2-5 0-4 4; Jones, Crayton 1-3 2-2 4; Power, Houston 0-3 2-3 2. Totals 24-69 17-33 71.

#11 USC AIKEN (8-3, 3-1 PBC)

Chris Commons 9-19 2-3 20; Javonte Clanton 5-8 5-8 18; Job Casimir 1-2 10-11 12; Cordaryl Ballard 3-5 4-5 12; Josh Dollard 3-6 3-4 9; Seth Leonard 1-5 4-5 6; Kingsley Oguchi 2-10 0-0 5; Brian Egwuatu 1-1 1-2 3; Mark Brown 0-0 2-2 2; Sterling Council 0-1 2-2 2; Casey McMasters 0-1 0-0 0; Jakub Gadomski 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 33-42 89.

Halftime: USCA 37 Francis Marion 26

3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-23 (Robinson 3-6; Wallen 2-7; Bjornsson 1-4; Clark 0-2; Power 0-2; French 0-2), USC Aiken 6-24 (Clanton 3-5; Ballard 2-4; Oguchi 1-4; Leonard 0-2; Council 0-1; McMasters 0-1; Dollard 0-2; Casimir 0-1; 0-4). Fouled out--Clark, French Ballard. Rebounds--Francis Marion 38 (Robinson 7), USC Aiken 53 (Commons 11). Assists--Francis Marion 5 (Five with 1), USC Aiken 15 (Clanton 5). Total fouls--Francis Marion 27, USC Aiken 27. Technical fouls--Bjornsson; FMU head coach Gary Edwards 2,  Dollard.