FMU men come up short against Clayton State in overtime

FLORENCE — Three days after Francis Marion’s humiliating loss to USC Aiken on Wednesday, no one was questioning the Patriots’ heart or desire on Saturday.

This time, it was about execution in FMU’s 99-94 overtime Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball loss to Clayton State at Smith University Center.

The Patriots have plenty of moments they can look back on and wonder what might’ve been.

When FMU was up 80-75 with just over two minutes left in regulation, Zamarius McLendon had a turnover that led to a three-point play by Clayton State’s Teondre Williams on the other end.

The Patriots can lament two missed free throws by the usually reliable Liki Turner, a 79 percent free-throw shooter, with FMU up four with 1:18 remaining in regulation. Then still up a point, Williams stole the ball from FMU’s Clayton Williams, which led to one of two made free throws by Anthony Salter and the 83-all tie that sent the game to overtime.

Teondre Williams made another big steal from FMU guard Evrik Gary with just more than a minute left in overtime and FMU again nursing a one-point lead. Williams made the layup, drew the foul from Gary and completed the three-point play with 1:15 left, putting Clayton State up 91-89, a lead the Lakers (9-4, 2-3) didn’t lose.

And FMU coach Gary Edwards would’ve loved to see his team get a better shot than Gary’s potential game-tier, a heavily contested, somewhat awkward 3-pointer from the right wing still with 11 seconds to go in overtime.

“Obviously, it was there for us to win,” FMU coach Gary Edwards said. “We have to be proud of the effort and think about more of the process than the result. It breaks my heart that we did play so hard, and the darn turnovers in crucial moments are really what kept us from winning. We had opportunities that we could have salted it away or at least had a chance to take the last shot. It’s really, really disappointing because I thought the guys played hard enough to win the game.”

Turner’s layup cut the Lakers’ lead to 93-92 with 48 seconds remaining, but Clayton State executed its offense to perfection on the other end, working the clock all the way down to 19 seconds before an uncontested entry pass in the paint to Andrew Bachanov resulted in an easy bucket and a foul.

Bachanov missed the free throw, but that’s when Gary got the rebound, raced up the floor and took his ill-advised shot, which was rebounded by Teondre Williams. He got fouled and sank two free throws on the other end with seven seconds left, making it 97-92 and essentially sealing FMU’s fate.

“Evrik’s shot was not what we drew up,” Edwards said. “They probably weren’t going to foul us, so we were going to take the two points. We were supposed to be in the middle of the floor, penetrate and if they collapse, then we’ll dish it and take the three.

“But we let the situation kind of cloud our judgment. It’s not what we drew up. That’s getting caught up in the moment and we can’t do that.”

The Patriots (6-6, 2-3 PBC) got some solid individual scoring performances, including Gary’s career-high 28 points. Guard Marcus Wright scored 21 before fouling out halfway through the extra period. Turner had 20, Andrew Smith had 12 and McLendon had 11.

After going 9-of-24 from the field in the first half and trailing 39-29 at the break, the Patriots blistered the nets in the second half, shooting nearly 71 percent (17-of-24).

But another telling stat was Clayton State’s dominance in bench scoring. Laker subs outscored FMU’s 33-2. Besides the five starters, Edwards played only three other players. Two of those, forward Marcel Williams and freshman guard Clayton Williams, played a combined 25 minutes, much of them when Miller and Wright were in foul trouble.

“I haven’t seen anything in practice that would make me play more guys,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to see it. When guys get in the game and have an opportunity in practice, they need to show me that they’re ready to go. God knows, I need to play more guys, but it’s not a charity event.”

Teondre Williams and Salter each had 21 points for Clayton State. Bachanov finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Reco Lewis had 13 points and Tony Dukes had 12.

WOMEN

No. 5 Clayton State 68

Francis Marion 56

The Lakers led by as many as 32 points in the second half, but a couple of things helped the Patriots make a charge, save some face and, coach Kate Glusko hopes, build on a much better final 10 minutes.

Clayton State (15-1, 5-0), which won its 12th straight game, stopped pressing and trapping part of the way through the second half. That helped in allowing FMU (5-6, 1-4) to get into a rhythm offensively and finish stronger than it looked like might be the case earlier in the game.

“I’m extremely proud of the fight in our girls,” Glusko said. “A lot of teams would’ve laid down and given up and went through the motions. I saw something out of them today.”

Whether the Lakers eased up a bit or not, the Patriots still had to execute. After committing 18 turnovers and shooting 27 percent in the first half, FMU committed just eight miscues in the second half and shot 52 percent.

That didn’t erase what happened early, though.

Clayton State used its athleticism and a smothering defense to take the Patriot out of their game early. The Lakers led 41-18 at the break and turned those 18 first-half turnovers into 20 points. In all, Clayton State scored 29 points off FMU’s 26 turnovers.

The Lakers outscored FMU 19-10 over the first 7:28 of the second half to up its lead to 60-28 on a 3-pointer by Keona Dixon.

Clayton’s Tanisha Woodard and Brittany Hall each scored 13 points, while Dixon had 11 off the bench and Genesis Kelly had 10.

FMU’s Daphne Walker scored 11 points in 25 minutes off the bench to lead the Patriots.

Clayton State outrebounded FMU 41-30.

“We had some pretty good things happen in the second half that helped us end on a positive note,” Glusko said. “I think half the battle is to get your players to play hard. I dislike losing more than anyone in the country. But if you have to take something out of this, it’s that we don’t give up.”

FMU hosts Montevallo in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader on Monday. The women’s game tips off at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.