FLORENCE — Having watched his team play seven regular season games, Gary Edwards has a pretty good idea what to expect when his Francis Marion men’s basketball squad takes the floor each night.
But he also knows that playing a Peach Belt Conference game is usually a different animal than a non-conference contest, and that his young team will simply have to find out for itself what league play is all about when the Patriots host USC Aiken tonight in each team’s PBC opener.
“I think they just have to experience it to really understand the intensity and physical nature of the play,” Edwards said. “It will be a tough one. Aiken has been one of the best teams in the conference the last few years. They’re a very physical team and sometimes when you have young players, it’s hard for them to adjust to just how tough it is.”
Edwards hopes to regain the services of 6-foot-8 transfer forward Robert Faulkner, the team’s leading scorer (15.8 ppg), who has missed FMU’s last two games because of a pulled muscle behind one knee.
The Patriots (6-1) also now have the use of junior transfer point guard Mike Candelaria, who dressed for the first time and made his FMU debut by playing 16 minutes in Monday’s win against Allen.
“He’s a true point guard and we lacked that in the early going,” Edwards said. “We needed someone to help lead and run the show for us. I think he’s ready. He’s practiced some with us and we need that ball-handling in the back court, especially against Aiken.”
The Pacers (2-2) won a pair of two-point games against Life University and Catawba before dropping two straight against Pfeiffer and Florida Southern.
Leading scorer Byron Faison (12.5 ppg), a 6-foot-1 junior guard, starred at Crestwood High School in Sumter and went to Winthrop before transferring to Aiken.
“He’s a great shooter,” Edwards said. “I think he had 35 in an exhibition against the College of Charleston and they took that game to overtime.”
But the key for his young team, Edwards said, will be how it handles the pressing style of defense the Pacers like to play.
“We’ll have to find a way to deal with that,” he said. “We’ve had a tendency to turn the ball over in the early going.”
PBC OPENER
Who: USC Aiken vs. FMU
When: Today, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Smith University Center
TV: Time Warner 11
Radio: 100.1 FM
Internet stream: www.fmupatriots.com
Admission: $5 adults, $2 students, FMU students free with university I.D.
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