FERRUM, Va. – The Ferrum College men's basketball team beat Lees-McRae College at home in Conference Carolinas action, winning 85-67 tonight at Swartz Gym.

RECORDS
Ferrum 11-7, 9-3 CC
Lees-McRae 8-12, 5-7 CC

THE BASICS
The two teams battled tight early on, with Lees-McRae holding a 6-5 lead at the first media timeout, then extending to 8-5 at the 15:30 mark. Rodrigo Farias opened the game with seven of Ferrum's first nine points, including a pair of free throws at 14:03 of the first half.
 
Alfredo Abel-Rivera made a layup at 11:14, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw, was fouled on the Panthers' next trip down the floor and made one of two free throws to make it an 18-10 Ferrum lead at the 10:40 mark. Abel-Rivera then made a wraparound layup and was followed by a layup by Abdulh Diaby to extend the lead to 22-12.
 
Gerren Jones hit a deep three-pointer at 8:36, was fouled and converted the four-point play and Abel-Rivera had another layup less than a minute later to extend the lead to 28-12. The Panthers closed out the first half on top 43-36 with Farias having 13 points and Abel-Rivera 12 points at the break.
 
In the second half, the Panthers slowly pulled away, eventually opening a 22-point lead at 11:19 on an Abel-Rivera layup. Dwight Canady's jumper and free throw trimmed the lead to 81-65 at 2:29, but the Panthers hung on for their ninth league win this season.
 
KEY STATS
Ferrum: Abel-Rivera 21 pts, 8 reb; Farias 17  pts; Jones 23 pts; Diaby 16 pts
Lees-McRae: Dwight Canady 17 pts; Cedric Patterson 10 pts

UP NEXT
Coach Patrick Corrigan's team will be back in action Saturday, January 31, at Barton College. The game is set for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off and will be the second half of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader in Wilson, North Carolina.