Patriots beat Bears 87-78 at OrthoCarolina Classic

WINGATE, NC – Senior forward Simel Boyd hit back-to-back jump shots to break a late tie and Francis Marion University used clutch free throw shooting in the final minute to claim an 87-78 win over Shaw University, Friday afternoon (Nov. 26) in the opening game of the OrthoCarolina Classic hosted by Wingate University.

The Patriot (5-0) advance to face Wingate in the championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Boyd led six FMU players in double figures as he scored 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.  Freshman guard Evrik Gary scored 15 points, including a 7-of-7 night at the foul line, while junior point guard Shawn Greenfield tallied 14 points and six assists, David Turner and Dominique Coleman each scored 13 points, and junior forward Liki Turner just missed his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Guard Raheem Smith paced Shaw (1-1) with 31 points.

Francis Marion trailed only briefly in the opening half, and led 41-36 at intermission thanks in large part to 12 points from David Turner – on 5-of-5 shooting.

A three-pointer by Greenfield to open the second stanza put FMU up by eight points, but the Bears rallied to tie the game at 53-53 with 13:07 remaining.  Francis Marion scored the next eight points to grab a 61-53 advantage, but again Shaw rallied to knot the score at 66-66.

Boyd then hit his two baskets to give FMU the lead for good at 70-66.  The Patriots sealed the win by hitting eight of eight from the free throw line over the final 42 seconds.

Francis Marion connected on 15-of-25 field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes and was 13-of-15 at the stripe in the second half.  FMU held Shaw to 39.3 percent shooting for the game, including 9-of-30 from beyond the three-point line.