LAKELAND - The second half of the Sunshine State Conference schedule began just as the first half did for Florida Southern, with a win over Barry. Only this time, the final numbers look a whole lot different. With five different players scoring at least 12 points, 11 different players scoring at least something, and Brandon Jenkins scoring his 1,000th career point, the 13th-ranked Moccasins rolled to a 104-74 win over the Buccaneers.
Back in early December, when Florida Southern and Barry first met in Miami Shores, the Moccasins trailed for much of the game and needed two late free throws from John Thompson to preserve an 83-77 win. This time, Thompson gave the Mocs (18-2, 7-2) an early lead they never relinquished, and his 16 points and 10 rebounds eventually helped them reached the 100-point mark for the first time ever against the Buccaneers (13-6, 5-4). It was the fourth time this season Florida Southern reached triple digits, but the first time in conference play.
Since overcoming a 22-point second-half deficit to beat Tampa (a game in which the Moccasins only led in overtime), Florida Southern has won three straight games without trailing in any of them. Against Barry, the Mocs scored the first seven points and effectively put the game away with a 10-0 run after the Bucs pulled within 12-9.
The Moccasins had the lead up to 21 with five minutes to play in the first half, and got it to 29 before Barry scored the final four points before halftime to make the score 52-27.
The first-half numbers were impressive. Florida Southern shot 60 percent from the floor and 67 percent from 3-point distance (8-for-12). The Mocs also limited the Buccaneers to 35 percent shooting, only one 3-point field goal, and forced nine turnovers. The way they accomplished those number was equally impressive.
All five Florida Southern starters had one of the team’s first five field goals, and the first eight field goals by the Mocs came from seven different players, including reserves Cameron Wooten and Damon Ellison. Jay Hubble joined the list not long after that.
It was also in the first half that Jenkins became the 34th player in team history to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career, but none may have reached it quite the way he did. It came at the 9:09 mark after Hubble came up with a steal and got the ball quickly up-court for Jenkins on a break-away. His layup was blocked, but the Bucs were called for goaltending, counting the basket and giving the junior guard his milestone without the ball ever going through the hoop.
It didn’t matter. Jenkins hit two more shots shortly thereafter and had 12 points at halftime. He didn’t score in the second half, but instead put up an assortment of other numbers that had him come as close to a triple double as any Moccasin has come in the last 25 years. He finished the night with 12 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.
His brother Terry Jenkins also scored 12 points, as did Rion Rayfield, but the Mocs' second leading scorer in the game was actually Wooten, who notched a season-high 14 points off the bench. Wooten matched Rayfield by going four-for-six from behind the arc, helping the Moccasins go 15-for-25 as a team.
It was the second time in the last three games Florida Southern has shot at least 60 percent from 3-point land, and it boosted their season percentage to .464. The Moccasins began the week leading all of Division II in that category.
While Florida Southern had five players scoring in double figures, Barry had four, led by Tony Dennison with 17. Zack Trapp was just behind him with 16 points, and Willie Whitfield and Erick Nsangou each scored 11.
Most of Barry's scoring came in the second half, and nearly all of that came after the Mocs started the period with an 11-2 run, that featured a four-point play by Terry Jenkins and two buckets by Thompson. Another 3-pointer by Terry Jenkins gave the Mocs their largest lead of the game (66-31) with 16 minutes remaining. It remained at least 22 the rest of the night.
Florida Southern will travel to Melbourne on Wednesday for its next game against Florida Tech, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
