FLORENCE, S.C. – The King University men's basketball team got off to a hot start at Francis Marion University on Friday night and didn't slow down. King connected on their first five trifectas of the contest to take the early advantage. The Tornado offense continued to roll in the second half, turning in their best shooting performance of the season in the 98-82 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 98, Francis Marion 82
LOCATION: Smith University Center; Florence, S.C.
RECORDS: King 4-2, 2-2 Conference Carolinas; Francis Marion 3-3, 1-3 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- King got off to a hot start from the three-point line, making their first five attempts as Michael Mays made four consecutive triples.
- Mays connected on five of his first six attempts from long range, giving King and 18-16 lead five minutes in.
- Connor Jordan made the first Tornado basket inside the arc and MJ Foust followed with a layup, giving King a 22-19 lead eight minutes into the contest.
- A Kenny Turner layup capped a 6-0 Tornado run that put King ahead 28-20.
- Blake Atwood then went on a flurry, scoring back-to-back layups that put the Tornado ahead 34-24 and forced a Francis Marion timeout with five minutes remaining until halftime.
- Following a Darron Howard trifecta, Atwood made a layup and followed that with a three-point basket to extend the King lead to 42-26 four minutes before halftime.
- The Tornado lead 48-32 following an Isaiah Curry layup before the Patriots went on a run.
- Francis Marion scored 11 straight points before a Jordan three-point play gave King a 51-43 lead at the half.
- The Tornado shot 54.3 percent from the floor, including 47.1 percent from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Second Half
- Howard got the Tornado off to a hot start with a three-point basket to open the final 20 minutes and Mays followed with a layup.
- Later in the half, King scored seven straight points to extend their lead to 72-54. Howard drilled a triple and made a jump shot on the spurt.
- A Curry basket stretched the advantage to 76-56 as King held their lead around 20 points for the remainder of the contest.
- A Foust steal and dunk stretched the Tornado lead to 87-62 before Atwood drilled a trifecta to give King their largest lead of the game at 95-66 with five minutes remaining.
- The Tornado then cruised to the 98-82 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- King shot 53.1 percent from the floor, including a 50.0 percent mark from three-point range.
- Howard led King with 24 points, shooting 9-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-7 from three.
- Mays followed with 22 points, going 7-for-11 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from long range.
- Atwood shot 7-for-10 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from three-point range for 19 points.
- Curry led the Tornado with eight rebounds to go along with eight points while Jordan handed out a team-high five assists.
FOR THE FOES
- Francis Marion shot 50.0 from the floor, but the Tornado defense held the Patriots to 7.1 percent shooting from three-point range.
- Jonah Pierce led the Patriots with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Alex Cox added 18 points.
- Nieja Jordan chipped in with 10 points while Nick Silva accounted for eight points and eight rebounds.
- Tionne Rollins handed out a game-high six assists.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The 24 points for Howard matches a career-high that was set in February against Barton College.
- Atwood sets a career-high for the second time this season, scoring 19 points to top his previous best of 18.
UP NEXT
- King stays on the road to take on UNC Pembroke on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
- Francis Marion hosts Lees-McRae College on Saturday afternoon.
