ST. AUGUSTINE – Vaughn McCall poured in a game-high 24 points but it wasn't enough as Flagler College's furious second half comeback came up short in a 78-75 loss to Francis Marion University in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Flagler Gymnasium.

Francis Marion snapped a five-game losing streak to improve to 8-5 overall and the Patriots earned their first Peach Belt win of the season and is now 1-4. Flagler fell to 5-8 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

Francis Marion used an early 21-6 run to take a 25-8 lead. The Patriots weathered a 6-0 run by the Saints to close the half and trim their lead to 44-32.

The Saints kept chipping away at the deficit in the second half. McCall hit a pair of 3-pointers late, including one with 19 seconds left to pull Flagler to within two (77-75). Detrek Browning was fouled and sank the second of two free throws to give the Patriots a three-point lead (78-75) with 15 seconds remaining. McCall attempted another 3-pointer with two seconds left, but the shot fell short and the rebound was knocked out of bounds by a Francis Marion player with 0.4 seconds remaining. The in-bounds pass went to the near corner but the clock ran out before a shot could be taken.

Browning led the Patriots with 22 points and he grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Mike Davis, Jr., added 20 points and had two blocked shots. Alante Fenner tallied a game-high six assists and had four steals.

Francis Marion forced 14 Flagler turnovers and turned those into 21 points.

Kessler Bell added 11 points and six rebounds for the Saints. Austin Howard chipped in with 11 points and dished out four assists. Nick Grier finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Keith Gray contributed six points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.  

Flagler made 86.7% (13-15) of its free throw attempts. The Saints tallied 21 assists.   

Flagler heads north on Saturday to face the University of South Carolina Aiken, a team it beat on Monday 72-70. The game will tip at 3:30 p.m.