YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. (March 2) – The freshmen duo of
Chase Dawson and
Raul Perez combined for 47 points, as the No. 9 seeded University of Mount Olive men's basketball team produced a 97-92 win over No. 10 Francis Marion in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday night.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 12-17 overall and advance to the second round to face No. 4 Young Harris tomorrow, Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. for a spot in the quarterfinals. Mount Olive snaps a four-game skid in the series versus Francis Marion and ultimately defeats their opposition in the third meeting this season. Meanwhile, the Patriots closed out the 2024-25 campaign with a 10-19 record.
Dawson continues his phenomenal freshman campaign with a game-high 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting with a trio of three-pointers. He also converted eight-of-nine from the free-throw line with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 31 minutes. Dawson eclipsed 600 points in a single season to become just the fourth player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Perez dropped a career-high 18 points on 7-of-13 attempts, adding four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in 29 minutes on the court. Redshirt sophomore
Christopher Brown finished with 11 points, two rebounds, and one steal in 18 minutes of action. Junior
Shawn Wilson contributed 10 points and three rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
In the first half, the Patriots established an early 8-7 advantage in the opening five minutes despite a slow start from both sides. Mount Olive stormed in front following a perfect four-of-four shooting to take a 16-12 edge with Dawson scoring five points during that stretch. Francis Marion quickly regained the lead before the Trojans mounted a 15-3 run with Dawson and Perez combining for 11 points to pull in front 31-20 at the 8:52 mark. Both sides made seven field goals over the final eight plus minutes, as UMO went into the break with a 49-40 advantage.
Following a tip-in layup by Brown to begin the second half, the Patriots trimmed the deficit behind a 12-4 rally to trail by a 55-52 margin at the 15:54 mark. The Trojans jumped the lead back to 11 points after finding success from the field and at the free-throw line, 66-55. Over the next seven-plus minutes, the sides exchanged baskets before UMO built its largest lead of the contest at 90-75 with 3:55 remaining. Francis Marion put together one final run with a 17-6 rally to close the gap to 96-92 but Dawson nailed a free-throw in the final seconds to seal the victory, 97-92
Mount Olive finished the contest shooting 36-of-67 (53.7 percent) from the floor while converting 60.0 percent (21-of-35) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Francis Marion posted a .459 field goal percentage (34-of-74) and made 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from three-point range. The Patriots finished with a 45-28 rebounding advantage with 40 points in the paint. The Trojans recorded 28 points off 25 forced turnovers and 25 points off the bench.
FMU junior Jordan Simpson finished with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting with four rebounds, five assists, and six steals in 37 minutes. Sophomore Horaces Jacques Jr. registered a 20-point performance on 8-of-16 shots with four rebounds in 34 minutes on the court.
Mount Olive continues its postseason journey tomorrow, Monday, March 3, as it faces No. 4 Young Harris at 7 p.m. in the second round of the Conference Carolinas Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company Men's Basketball Championship.
