Box Score The Moccasins weathered a late second-half surge by Palm Beach Atlantic to post a 79-71 road win Saturday at West Palm Beach.
The win was FSC's third straight and improved the Moccasins' record to 6-3. Palm Beach Atlantic, which already had beaten Sunshine State Conference foes Florida Tech, Rollins and Lynn this season and taken Tampa to overtime, slipped to 7-4.
After leading 42-31 at halftime, the Moccasins opened the second half with a 17-8 run in the first six minutes to build the lead to 59-39 with 13:52 remaining. The Sailfish then went on a 23-7 run themselves to whittle the Moccasins' lead down to four, 66-62, with 5:10 left. That was as close as PBA would get, as a pair of Terry Jenkins free throws, a Damon Ellison layup and a pair of three-pointers by Rion Rayfield gave the Moccasins enough of a cushion to close out the game.
Rayfield led the Moccasins with a season-high 23 points that included five three-pointers. Wooten, who logged 28 minutes off the bench, notched a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Damon Ellison scored 14 points and Terry Jenkins added 11.
Jonathan Lawrence led PBA with 31 points. Former Moccasin David Wood, who played in six games for FSC last season, had 16 points, but that was six points below his season average of 22.
The Moccasins' three-point shooting was the difference in the game, as they hit nine while PBA managed to connect on just two of 24.
After a week of final exams, the Moccasins wrap up the 2010 portion of their schedule with home games next Saturday and Sunday at Jenkins Field House. They play Talladega College Saturday at 1 p.m. and Tuskegee Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
