MARION — The Selma Saints held off pesky Francis Marion 71-58 Friday night behind a strong performance from Kahmaul Jones, who scored 17 points and delivered the evening’s exclamation point — a dunk as the buzzer sounded — to put the finishing touches on the Saints’ second consecutive win.

Selma’s lead grew to 16 midway through the third quarter, but the Rams started pecking away. When Artur Johnson hit his third three of night with two minutes left to play, Francis Marion pulled within 58-55.

The Saints were able to hold on thanks to a tremendous pass by point guard Keyshawn Ford to Alfred Robinson for a layup to give Selma a 5-point lead that grew rapidly in the final minutes as the Rams turned the ball over and the Saints nailed free throws.

“We made some mental mistakes,” Selma head coach Woodie Jackson. “As you saw, we probably could have won by more. We probably missed 10 or 12 points under the basket by simply not doing what we practice every day.”

Jones made all seven of his free throw attempts down the stretch for the Saints.

”He played real good,” Jackson said. “During practice we worked on that in different drills, shooting free throws. We shoot some before practice and during the scrimmage.”

Ford added 12 points and six assists. Johnson led the way for the Rams with 21 points on the night. Jalen Kelly added 20 points, including three 3-pointers,.

Selma hosts Dallas County Saturday, with games starting at 5 p.m.