LAKELAND - Preston Fredrick scored 22 points in the best game of his young career, Rob Eldridge scored 21, and Brandon Jenkins had 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Florida Southern to a 91-74 win over East Stroudsburg in The Ledger/Holiday Inn South Classic.
A 3-pointer by Eldridge and a steal by Fredrick that led to a jumper by Jenkins staked the Moccasins (9-4) to an early 5-0 lead as they never trailed at any point in the game. The Warriors (6-2) were still within single digits at 28-20, but the Mocs out-scored them 26-9 over the final 8:36 of the first half to take a commanding lead at halftime. Fredrick started the run with a tip-in, and Rion Rayfield scored eight of the 26 points to send the Mocs into the locker room ahead 54-29.
The Mocs pushed their lead to 27 early in the second half before the Warriors went on an 18-1 run that cut the deficit to 10; ESU went eight-for-eight from the floor during that stretch. Aaron Pinckney started it with back-to-back fast-break layups, and East Stroudsburg got 3-pointers from Mike DeMarco and Andy Heimbach to close it out, making the score 60-50 with 13 minutes to play.
A 3-pointer by Rayfield at the 11:01 mark finally broke a stretch of over seven minutes without a field goal for Florida Southern and helped the Mocs go on an 11-2 run of their own. The Warriors wouldn't go away, however, and when Pinckney hit a 3-pointer at the 7:23 mark, the Mocs' lead was down to 71-62.
The Mocs would score the next eight points though, four of them by Fredrick, as they pulled away down the stretch. The freshman was 11-for-15 from the floor, had seven rebounds, two steals and one block. It was his third straight game scoring in double figures.
Eldridge scored his 21 points on five-of-11 shooting from floor (including a pair of 3-point field goals) and nine-of-15 shooting from the line. He added eight assists , five rebounds and a pair of steals. Jenkins, meanwhile, was six-for-13 from the floor, though the sophomore had a rare night without a 3-pointer. His 11 rebounds were a career-high, however, and he also handed out seven assists.
Rayfield also reached double figures with 15 points and hit a trio of 3-pointers.
The Moccasins shot 49 percent overall, were eight-for-22 from long range. ESU shot 43 percent, including 61 percent in the second half, and was seven-for-18 from 3-point distance.
Four ESU players scored in double figures, led by Chris Bach with 18 points and nine rebounds. Pay Fleury scored 14 and had six assists, DeMarco added 13, and Pinckney had 12.
Florida Southern will take on #2 South Carolina-Aiken on Tuesday night at 7:30 in the final game of The Ledger/Holiday Inn South Classic.
In Monday's first game of the tournament, USC-Aiken suffered its first loss of the season, falling to St. Joseph's (IN), 77-66. The Pacers were out-scored 48-34 in the second half and fell to 6-1 despite 25 points apiece from Josh Dollard and Chris Commons. St. Joseph's had four players in double figures, led by Michael Horton (15) and Will Jones (14).
