LAKELAND - Shooting a sizzling 75.8 percent from the field in the second half, the Moccasins shook off a pesky Florida Memorial team and rolled to a 105-65 win here at Jenkins Field House Monday night. The win gives the Mocs an 8-4 record to take into the Christmas holiday break. Florida Memorial fell to 1-7.
After leading 44-37 at halftime, the Moccasins broke the game open with a 16-0 run early in the second half that took them from a 49-41 lead at the 17:23 mark to a 65-41 lead with 12:22 remaining. From that point, the only question was whether the Moccasins would reach the century mark. Eric Fernandez did the honors, hitting a jumper with 1:22 left that gave the Moccasins their biggest lead of the game, 100-59.
The Moccasins connected on 25 of 33 shots from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 66.7 percent on 40 of 60. They were 10 of 24 on three-pointers and 15 of 19 from the free throw line.
Rob Eldridge led a balanced scoring attack that had five players scoring in double figures. He had a team-high 18 points. Preston Fredrick, making his second straight start, was a perfect six-of-six from the field and two-of-two from the free throw line for 14 points. Brandon Jenkins came off the bench and hit four three-pointers for 12 points. Braxton Williams tossed in 11 and John Thompson picked up 10 off the bench.
The Moccasins are idle until The Ledger/Holiday Inn South Classic Dec. 29-30 at Jenkins Field House. FSC will play East Stroudsburg (Pa.) at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 and South Carolina-Aiken at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 30.
