MOUNT OLIVE (Feb.11) – Despite featuring seven players in double figures on Tuesday night, the University of Mount Olive men's basketball program dropped a high-scoring affair to Francis Marion 129-121 at Kornegay Arena in Conference Carolinas divisional play.
With the loss, the Trojans moved to 10-14 overall with an 8-8 record in conference action. Mount Olive continues to battle for postseason seeding with five contests left after entering tonight at No. 6 in the KPI rankings. Meanwhile, Francis Marion snapped its three-game losing streak and improved to a 9-15 overall record while touching up its conference record to 7-9.
Freshman
Chase Dawson scored a team-high 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 34 minutes of action. Freshman
Matt Kirby delivered another efficient performance with 16 points, three rebounds, six assists, and three steals in 30 minutes. Redshirt sophomore
Lureon Walker contributed 16 points on 5-of-11 from the field with two rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Freshman
Raul Perez remained productive as the starter chipping in for 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with three rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 23 minutes. Additionally, redshirt sophomore Christoper Brown added 15 points while the junior duo of
Shane Peterson and
Shawn Wilson each tallied 12 points.
The two sides battled back and forth early on in the contest with neither side seeming to get the upper edge. The Patriots secured their first significant lead at the 13:50 mark of the half by going up 26-17 after missing just two shots in the initial six minutes of the contest. A trio of big threes registered by Peterson brought the Trojans back into the game trailing by just four points, 39-35 at the 9:05 mark. UMO remained within striking distance down the stretch before FMU nailed a half-court three-pointer at the buzzer to head into the break ahead by a 69-64 margin.
The teams traded baskets out of the break as the offensive battle continued in this eastern division matchup. The Trojans, after trailing since the beginning of the game, finally took the lead back after a three-point shot by Dawson with 17:50 left in the second half making it 74-73 in favor of UMO. The Patriots countered with a 15-5 run to reclaim their double-digit advantage at 90-79 with 14:48 to go before the sides exchanged shots for the next seven minutes. Mount Olive closed the gap to 110-106 with 5:40 left in regulation before cutting it to just two points following a layup by Walker, 112-110. The Trojans were unable to tie or take the lead for the remainder of the contest, as the Patriots made 11-of-12 from the free-throw line to secure the win, 129-121.
UMO shot at a 50.6 clip (42-of-83) from the floor while going 26-of-33 (78.8 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Francis Marion finished the game shooting 71.9 percent (46-of-64) and converted 33-of-40 (82.5 percent) from the charity stripe. The Patriots held a 42-25 rebounding advantage with 68 points in the paint. The Trojans tallied 53 fastbreak points and 38 points off turnovers.
FMU junior Jordyn Surrat set a new single-game point record for the Patriots after dropping 45 on 14-of-16 attempts while converting 17-of-19 from the free-throw line.
Next up, the Trojans host a conference matchup at Kornegay Arena this upcoming Saturday, Feb. 15 against Young Harris with tip-off set for 4 p.m.
