LAKELAND - John Thompson scored 24 points and Rob Eldridge scored 20 to lead Florida Southern to an 86-78 win over Eckerd on Wednesday night.
Thompson went 10-for-12 from the field and Eldridge was seven-for-10 as the Moccasins (14-4, 4-1) shot 53 percent from the floor. Braxton Williams had a strong night too, hitting five-of-eight overall and going four-for-seven from long range for a total of 14 points. He also handed out seven assists.
Eckerd (7-8, 0-5) was in control early in the game by scoring on eight of its first nine possessions to take a 17-10 lead. The Mocs then ran off eight straight points on a dunk by Rashaad Singleton and 3-pointers by Williams and Rion Rayfield. The Tritons were able to re-gain the lead, and held it until the 6:41 mark when Thompson hit a jumper in the paint to put the Mocs back on top, 28-27.
Just over two minutes later, the Tritons again took the lead, but Thompson would score the Mocs' final five points of the half to give them a 41-38 lead at the break. The junior forward then seven points in the first two minutes of the second half to help the Mocs push their lead to eight.
It was still an eight-point game with less than nine minutes to play when Jenkins hit a 3-pointer followed by seven straight points from Eldridge. The Moccasin lead remained in double digits for much of the remaining time, even with Florida Southern scoring just one point in the final four-and-a-half minutes. The Tritons scored just three points during that same span, all of them on a long-range shot from Joey Cantens with 1:30 remaining.
While the Mocs had four players in double figures, the Tritons had only two: Zaronn Cann with 17 and Lewis Lampley with 14. Cann was five-for-six from the floor and seven-for-eight from the line while picking up six rebounds. Lampley was five-for-nine from the floor, four-of-four from the free throw line with eight boards and four assists. After shooting 47 percent in the first half though, Eckerd shot just 32 percent in the second half.
The Moccasins meanwhile, shot at a 61 percent clip over the final 20 minutes, while also making five of their nine 3-point tries during that span.
Florida Southern will be at home again on Saturday night when it hosts Palm Beach Atlantic at 7:30 p.m.
