LAKELAND - Back at home Saturday night, the Florida Southern Moccasins looked just like their old selves. That meant a lot of points, a whole lot of John Thompson, and just a dash of Jay Hubble. More importantly, it also meant a Moccasin win. Following their first two losses of the season, both on the road, Florida Southern remained perfect at home with a 98-85 victory over Lynn.
Last year, Lynn was the only team to defeat Florida Southern in Jenkins Field House during the regular season, but this year the Knights never had the lead. Thompson started the game with two baskets and an assist on the Moccasins’ first three possessions, and ended up with 23 points and 17 rebounds. He had plenty of help on a night where Florida Southern (14-2, 4-2 Sunshine State Conference) nearly reached triple digits for the first time ever against Lynn.
While the Knights'€™ Chris Hall scored 35 points to lead all players in the game, the Moccasins had six players in double figures, including reserves Cameron Wooten and Damon Ellison, who each scored 13 points. Brandon Jenkins and Rion Rayfield scored 12 apiece, and Terry Jenkins scored 11. Hubble wasn't far behind that group with eight points off the bench, all of them late in the first half when he helped the Mocs take a 47-38 lead at the break.
Hubble got increased minutes after Rayfield picked up his second foul with nine minutes left in the half, and the way he was shooting, there was no reason to sit him down. It was those nine minutes that really defined the game, and players like Hubble and Wooten who did the work.
With back-to-back 3-pointers by Rodney Kennedy and Jovan Robinson, Lynn (9-7, 3-2) had cut the Florida Southern lead to just two with 7:51 to play in the first half, and the Mocs had gone cold. A jump shot by Thompson got them going again, and when Robinson missed another 3-pointer for Lynn, Wooten grabbed the rebound, leading to a 3-pointer by Brandon Jenkins that put the Mocs ahead, 32-25.
The Knights were able to keep it close, but twice after they had pulled within six points, Hubble immediately drained a 3-point shot to push the deficit back to nine. The sophomore guard also scored on a difficult reverse layup around a Lynn defender with 2:04 remaining that gave the Moccasins a 44-33 lead.
When a three-point play by Hall got the Knights back within six again, Brandon Jenkins answered with a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, stealing any momentum Lynn might have had.
The Knights shot just 36 percent in the first half, but 60 percent in the second when they put 47 points on the board and continued to challenge the Mocs until the final five minutes. A 6-0 run by the Knights had cut a 13-point Moccasin lead down to seven at that point in the game, but a jumper by Ellison and a steal by Jenkins that led to a three-point play by Ellison, put the Mocs up by 12 with 4:39 remaining.
Hall tried to get Lynn back in the game with a bucket that made the score 82-72, but seven straight Florida Southern points followed, capped with a break-away dunk by Wooten. That essentially sealed the outcome, with the Mocs scoring their final nine points at the free throw line.
Thompson’s big night came on the heels of a 30-point, 12-rebound performance at Saint Leo on Wednesday, and was the fourth time this year he’s had a game with at least 20 and 10. Wooten, meanwhile, reached double digit points for the first time since scoring 13 in an opening night with over Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, and his eight rebounds were only one off his career high. The redshirt junior also had one assist and one block, and continued to shoot 50 percent from 3-point range while coming off the bench.
Hubble may have been the best story of the night though. While his eight points weren’t the best total he’s had, they were the first he’d scored since December 10, a span of nine games.
None of the Moccasins could match Lynn's Chris Hall, though they really didn't need to. The junior guard, who led the SSC in scoring last year, reached 35 points for the second time this season, with the other coming against Tampa. He went 13-for-19 from the floor (two-for-five from long range) and seven-for-10 at the free throw line. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
Rodney Kennedy added 14 points and six boards, and Robinson scored 13 points. Michel Vidal, the league leader in rebounding, did just that against the Moccasins, pulling down 15 in addition to his eight points and three blocked shots.
Florida Southern remains at home for its next game, when it hosts Tampa on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
