NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Even with senior guard Jordan Martin turning his highest-scoring performance of the season, it wasn't enough for Florida Memorial University because it shot a collective 32 percent from the field compared to the 44 percent Johnson & Wales University shot as the Lions fell to the Wildcats 71-64 Thursday night in the Wildcat Center.
 
Even though they struggled shooting, the Lions erased a 17-point second-half deficit (trailing 57-40 with 12:33 remaining) over a 7-minute span tying the game at 59 with just under five minutes left in the game after a Martin three-pointer and even took a 62-61 lead with 4:03 left to play after another Martin shot from long range.
 
The teams knotted again at 64 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the game, but Johnson & Wales closed the game on a 7-0 run as FMU (5-12, 2-6 Sun Conference) missed their final four shots.
 
Martin, an Atlanta, Georgia native, recorded a game-high 31 points – knocking down 8 of his 20 shots from the field and going a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Martin also continued his streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made, sinking 6-of-14 shots from beyond the arc.
 
For all Martin did, the rest of the Lions – who missed their opportunity to surpass their win total from this past season Thursday night but will have another chance when they host Sun Conference foe Keiser University Saturday (Jan. 18) – struggled to put the ball in the basket against JWU.
 
Junior forward Quvondo Johnson was the only other FMU player to finish with double-digit points – adding 11 on 5-of-16 shooting. Cheikh Kebe had nine points and 10 rebounds; senior Omar Outar added six points off the bench; but two glaring holes were 7-foot center Mubashar Ali only adding two points and two boards in 20 minutes of action and the complete absence of junior guard Kaleb Darrett, who did not play Thursday after turning in two solid outings on FMU's road trip this past weekend.
 
Johnson & Wales (6-10, 2-6) didn't shoot the ball extraordinarily well, but its shots found the bottom of the net at a significantly higher clip than the Lions'. The Wildcats were buoyed by their two lead guards Dante Pace and Alex Doane. Both scored 22 points and combined to knock down eight three-pointers.
 

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