Men: Francis Marion 66, AASU 61; Women: AASU 78, No. 23 Francis Marion 65

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-27-08

Men’s Basketball: Francis Marion 66, AASU 61 OT
Women’s Basketball: AASU 78, No. 23 Francis Marion 65

SAVANNAH, Ga. (February 21) – Senior Kaneetha Gordon did it all on Wednesday night on Senior Night, leading the Armstrong Atlantic State women’s basketball squad to a 78-65 upset of No. 23-ranked and PBC-leading Francis Marion at Alumni Arena. Francis Marion’s men earned a split with a big second-half comeback in picking up a 66-61 overtime win over the Pirates.

Prior to the women’s contest, Gordon – AASU’s all-time leader in rebounding – sang the National Anthem for the first time. The Riceboro, Ga., native then led a second-half charge with a career-high 29 points to go with 17 rebounds in giving the Lady Pirates (17-9, 11-8 PBC) their sixth win in their last seven games with the victory over the Patriots (20-6, 13-6 PBC).

Francis Marion ended the first half on a 20-7 run to take an 11-point lead into halftime, 40-29. The Lady Pirates battled back to tie the game, 54-54, on a Lacey Willis jumper with 8:03 remaining, and AASU closed out the contest by outscoring the Patriots 24-11 the rest of the way. Junior Alandris Griffin also added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, joining Gordon, while senior Jasmine Herron chipped in 10 points. Gordon, Herron and Lindsay Lieneman each played in their final home games as Lady Pirates in the contest.

The win is also the eighth straight year in which head coach Roger Hodge has led the AASU women's team to a win over a nationally-ranked squad, dating back to 2000-01.

The men’s contest saw Francis Marion (11-15, 5-14 PBC) trail by 17 points, 51-34, with 8:40 remaining, but after that point the Pirates (16-10, 10-9 PBC) went a collective 0-for-18 from the field in the rest of the second half and overtime, helping the Patriots to the victory.

Sam Smith made one of two free throws for the Patriots with 4.6 seconds left that tied the game at 55-all and sent it to the extra period. In the extra frame, Nate Morley canned a three-pointer from 25 feet out as the shot clock expired to give Francis Marion a six-point lead, 64-58, with 1:16 remaining and seal the victory.

Corey Johnson led all scorers on the night for the Pirates with 22 points, while T.T. Hall added 14 points off the bench. Francis Marion was led by Morley’s 15 points off the bench, including 4-of-7 three-pointers, while Rodrick Burton added 12 points and Smith finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Seven seniors, including Johnson, said goodbye to Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. Senior Jamaal Galloway – who endured an 0-for-11 night from three-point range – leaves as AASU’s all-time leading three-point shooter, while senior William Kane dished out six assists on the night to tie Matt Causey’s PBC-only single-season assist record of 136. Franchot Brown, Patrick Sanou, Jimmy Fanning and Nick Bloemhof also played in their final games in Alumni Arena as Pirates on Wednesday.

The Pirates and Lady Pirates will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, March 1, with a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Lander, beginning with the women’s game at 2:00 p.m. and finishing with the men’s game at 4.

- Pirates -