Patriot Men rally, then fall 78-76 in final seconds at AASU
SAVANNAH, GA - Forward Keron McKenzie scored the game's final five points in the last 27 seconds to lift Armstrong Atlantic State University to a 78-76 win over Francis Marion University, Saturday night (Feb. 27) in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action.
The Patriots finish their regular season 18-9 overall and in third place in the PBC's East Division with a 10-8 mark. FMU will travel to second-seeded USC Aiken on Wednesday night (7 p.m.) for a first-round game in the PBC Tournament. The tournament semifinals and finals are also set for Aiken, March 6-7.
Senior Kendrick Robinson and sophomore Andrew Smith led FMU with 19 points each, while Simel Boyd added 11 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. Junior guard Bryant Julious also scored 11 points.
McKenzie led AASU (12-15, 7-11) with 26 points and eight rebounds, while Patrick Shokpeka added 20 points and eight rebounds.
A free throw by Smith with 38 seconds left gave Francis Marion a 76-73 lead. McKenzie was then fouled shooting a three pointer with 27 ticks remaining. He made 2-of-3 free throws to trim the margin to 76-75. After a missed 1-and-1 opportunity by FMU with 19 seconds on the clock, McKenzie drilled the game-winning three-pointer with six seconds left. FMU's Robinson missed a three-pointer at the final buzzer.
FMU scored the game's first five points, but the Pirates answered with 12 consecutive points of their own. AASU would lead by as many as 17 points in the first half before taking a 46-31 lead into the locker room at intermission. AASU shot 55.6 percent in the opening half.
Francis Marion answered the bell to open the second stanza, outscoring the Pirates 22-4 to take a 53-50 lead. Julious and Smith both contributed eight points to the run. That run eventually extended to 31-11 to open the half as FMU took a 62-57 lead following a David Turner jumper with 7:28 left.
A three-pointer by Julious with 5:05 remaining pushed the Patriot advantage to 68-61. AASU responded with nine straight points to lead 70-68. FMU held AASU to 29 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes.
2-27-10 7:30 p.m. at Savannah, Ga. (Alumni Arena)
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 78, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 76
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (18-9, 10-8 PBC)
Smith, Andrew 8-14 3-5 19; Robinson, Kendrick 7-15 1-2 19; Julious,
Bryant
3-7 2-2 11; Boyd, Simel 5-11 0-0 11; Turner, David 2-3 1-2 5;
Anderson,
Kaylan 2-6 0-0 4; Faulkner, Robert 1-4 0-0 3; Candelaria, Mike 1-2
0-0 3;
Gullatte, Edward 0-2 1-2 1; Mains, Herman 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 29-65
8-15 76.
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (12-15, 7-11 PBC)
McKenzie, Keron 6-15 8-10 26; Shokpeka, Patrick 8-16 3-6 20;
Vanlandingham,
Chris 4-9 2-2 13; Pruett, David 2-4 1-2 7; Robinson, Gabriel 3-7
1-1 7;
Duvall, Marquise 1-7 3-4 5; Njie, Dawda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-58
18-25 78.
Halftime: AASU 46 Francis Marion 31
3-point goals--Francis Marion University 10-21 (Robinson, Kendrick
4-8;
Julious, Bryant 3-5; Faulkner, Robert 1-2; Boyd, Simel 1-3;
Candelaria, Mike
1-2; Anderson, Kaylan 0-1), Armstrong Atlantic 12-25 (McKenzie,
Keron 6-14;
Vanlandingham, Chris 3-6; Pruett, David 2-3; Shokpeka, Patrick
1-2). Fouled
out--Francis Marion University-None, Armstrong Atlantic-None.
Rebounds--Francis Marion University 46 (Boyd, Simel 16), Armstrong
Atlantic
30 (Shokpeka, Patrick 8; Duvall, Marquise 8). Assists--Francis
Marion
University 14 (Julious, Bryant 3; Robinson, Kendrick 3; Boyd, Simel
3;
Anderson, Kaylan 3), Armstrong Atlantic 15 (Robinson, Gabriel 9).
Total
fouls--Francis Marion University 16, Armstrong Atlantic 14.
Technical
fouls--Gullatte.A-516
