FLORENCE, S.C. – The Barton men's basketball team (12-10, 8-6) withstood a furious rally to defeat Francis Marion (8-14, 6-8), 96-90, in a key Conference Carolinas contest at Smith University Center on Wednesday night.
Barton senior guard
Shawn Nelson (Miami, Fla.) led all scorers with 23 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds as the Bulldogs saw a 15-point lead early in the second half disappear but responded late in the contest to sweep the season series from the Patriots.
The Bulldogs ended the contest by scoring the final seven points in the final one-and-a-half minutes including the game-winning field goal from senior guard
Jordan Johnson (Bowie, Md.) for a 91-90 advantage. Senior forward
Marko Krtinic (Indjija, SERBIA) added a monster double-double – 17 points and 13 rebounds – for Barton, who also picked up its second straight win as it continues to jockey for position in the conference standings.
Francis Marion, which took the lead late in the game after trailing by a 63-48 score early in the second half, was paced by Jordyn Surratt (Spartanburg, S.C.) with 21 points.
Although the Patriots hit 57 percent (34-for-60) of its field goals, the home team did miss 10 shots (14-of-24) from the charity stripe.
In the next round of Conference Carolinas games on Saturday afternoon starting at 4:00 p.m., Barton travels to Franklin Springs, Ga., to take on Emmanuel at 4:00 p.m., while Francis Marion hosts Lees-McRae.
