Florence, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were defeated on Saturday Afternoon by the Francis Marion University Patriots.
The Warriors were led in scoring by Reco Hallmon with a career-high 24 points, followed by Eric Hackett with 15. Dyren Brown led the team in rebounds with 8 and Griffin Effenberger led the team in assists with 6. As a team, SWU shot 25-70 (35.7%) from the field, 7-24 (29.2%) from behind the arc, and 13-21 (61.9%) from the free throw line.
Game Vitals:
Final: Southern Wesleyan University 70, Francis Marion University 88
Records: Southern Wesleyan University (3-18, 2-9), Francis Marion University (10-10, 8-4)
How It Happened:
The first five on the floor today for the Warriors were Che Smith, Raevon Allen, Griffin Effenberger, Reco Hallmon, and Aaron Tims. They had a very difficult start to the game, failing to score for the first 8:00 of the game while Francis Marion jumped out to a 15-0 lead. SWU got a couple of buckets from Eric Hackett and Marcus Long off the bench, but didn't really get into a rhythm until the final ten minutes of the half. The Warriors went on a 17-5 run from the 8:45 to 3:30 marks to cut the lead to single digits, capped by Aaron Tims who soared and finished with two hands to make it a 32-26 game. They had a much better flow to the offense over that stretch, and Hallmon's ability to drive and finish around bodies was a huge factor. He had 16 points in the half, which would have been his second-highest full-game total of the season. Dyren Brown also had a bright opening half, and he scored 5 points in the final 15 seconds to cut the Patriot lead to just one at the end of the period.
Francis Marion jumped all over SWU in the opening stages of the second half, going on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes of the period. But the game didn't feel out of reach just yet. Marcus Long and Jonathan Taylor each had buckets a few possessions later to push the lead back within single digits, and Reco Hallmon continued his dominance getting up to 20 points early in the half. However, when the Warriors went on a five-minute scoring drought from the 14:30 to 9:30 marks, the Patriot lead increased to as big as 18. Of course, it was Hallmon who broke the rut, but at that point, it began to feel out of reach for Southern Wesleyan. Hallmon increased his point total to 24 with 4:30 left, breaking his previous career-high of 21 which he set back in November against Carson-Newman. Tonight's loss was SWU's fourth in a row, and they dropped to 2-9 in Conference Carolinas' play.
What's Next:
Southern Wesleyan will remain on the road for the next two games, facing off with North Greenville on Wednesday, February 7th, and Barton on Saturday, February 10th. The Warriors' next home game is Wednesday, February 14th, when they host Young-Harris College.
