The number one ranked team in the west division of the Peach Belt Conference, Montevallo University Falcons Men’s basketball team, lost to the Francis Marion University Patriots on Monday, Jan. 9.
The Patriots won the home game against the Falcons 60-49, which was the lowest score Montevallo has earned so far this season.
FMU’s Liki Turner led in points with 20 points made in the game, closely followed by Evrik Gary with 16 points.
Montevallo’s DJ Rivera, who entered the game as the third-leading scorer in the Division, made 19 points in the game with 43 attempt and only 11 made.
Jeff Hefner led the Montevallo team with six rebounds, while Gary led the Patriots with eight rebounds.
The Patriots started the game in debt with Rivera making the first six points in the game, but things turned in favor of FMU when Zamarius McLendon put the Patriots on the scoreboard 2-10. From then on, FMU picked up momentum.
“We weren’t expected to win the game,” said Clayton Williams, a freshman majo-ring in business management. “But even thought the odds were against us, we knew that we had to persevere and put up a fight. In the end, … we were the ones that played harder to win it.”
During the next 10 minutes, the Patriots battled for the lead.
In the last five minutes the lead was achieved when Turner made a 3 pointer, bringing the score to 19-18.
From then on, FMU held on to their lead, always staying at least one shot ahead of the Falcons.
At the end of the first half, the score was 26-20 in FMU’s favor.
The Patriots dominated the second half of the game.
It was at this point that the Patriots gained the largest lead over the Falcons, 40-25. Montevallo never came close to recapturing the lead.
FMU ended the game with a solid eleven-point lead over the Falcons.
“We played real well, and it gave us some much needed confidence,” said AJ Caldwell who is a red-shirt freshman majoring in biology.
“The game shows the PBC that even though some games we don’t play to our potential, when we get our act together, it can be something magical,” Caldwell said.
FMU’s PBC standing is third in the East Division with five wins and three losses. Over all, the Patriots have a 9-6 record.