Patriot men, women rely on rookies to help out

By: Mark Haselden | SCNow
Published: November 18, 2009

FLORENCE — As the Francis Marion men’s and women’s basketball teams get ready for the first home doubleheader of the season tonight, both coaches have similar perception of at least one aspect of their teams: They’re coming together.

Both squads have a bench full of young players trying to mesh with older ones.

For the women, who play Fayetteville State at 5:30 p.m., coach Heather Macy needs that because of the way her team plays the game: Fast with a lot of substitutions, many times wholesale.

Macy said she liked what she saw in the Patriots’ opening 91-57 win against Converse on Sunday, a game in which FMU forced 55 turnovers and took 92 shots.

“They’re starting to get into the flow of it,” Macy said. “Some of them said, ’You told us all about it and now we’re really starting to understand this is the only way to play basketball.’”

Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 14 points to lead 13 FMU scorers in the opener.

“We don’t have any prima donnas, no ego problems,” Macy said. “It’s just a matter of learning this system, not reacting whether good or bad and finishing games.”

Men’s coach Gary Edwards lost all five starters and needs his newcomers to get ready quickly, as well.

The Patriots, who play Carver Bible College at 7:30 p.m., opened by winning two games at the Florida Tech Tip-off Classic.

“We had some real good spots and some poor spots that we’ve got to improve on,” Edwards said. “But overall, I thought we played well and each game gives us a little bit more experience playing together. We’re really trying to mesh a lot of new faces.

“It’s all a part of getting to know each other, trusting each other and just getting minutes. I think that’s coming along. We’ve got good attitudes, unselfish attitudes.”

In the Patriots’ two games, Robert Faulkner has averaged 14 points off the bench, including a 22-point game against Puerto-Rico Piedras. Junior Simel Boyd has 24 points in two games.

Tonight is also FMU’s “Riot at the Rim” event.

Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students, but admission will be free to those donating two canned goods. Donations go to the Harvest Hope Food Bank.

Pregame events begin at 4:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of Smith University Center and will include music, contests, door prizes and a chance for fans to hear from both Macy and Edwards.

The doubleheader is also a “white-out” event and fans are asked to wear white shirts.