Box Score LAKELAND - One game alone never wins a championship, but if the Florida Southern Moccasins do go on to win their third straight Sunshine State Conference title, then Saturday's game against Rollins might be the one that at least made it possible. Jumping on the Tars right from the outset, the Moccasins raced to a 21-point halftime lead en route to a 90-69 victory that got them within a half game of first place in the SSC standings.
Florida Southern (19-3, 8-3, and ranked #11) came into the night trailing Rollins (17-4, 8-2, ranked No. 17) by two games in the loss column, in part because of a last-second three-point loss at Rollins on January 9. The second meeting was never close though, as the Mocs out-scored the Tars 15-2 in the first four-and-a-half minutes, and led by double digits for the final 30.
Florida Southern's first 18 points all came on 3-point field goals, with Rion Rayfield and Terry Jenkins each making three in the first six minutes. Rayfield started the game with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Mocs a 6-0 lead and scored all 15 of his points in the first half. His other six came on one possession when Rollins head coach Tom Klusman was called for two technical fouls at the 5:33 mark. Rayfield had already been fouled on the play, and knocked down all six free throws to give the Mocs a 41-19 lead.
Rayfield also had 10 assists and six rebounds, his second game this season with double figures in both points and assists.
While Rayfield had three 3-pointers, and Terry Jenkins had four, neither was the big gun for Florida Southern. Brandon Jenkins made five of them, accounting for all 15 of his points. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Altogether, the Mocs went 13-for-28 from behind the arc, and made seven of their first eight attempts. They shot 63 percent overall in the first half, leading to their 56-35 halftime lead.
Most of the second half was owned by John Thompson and Damon Ellison. Thompson scored 12 of his game-high 20 points after halftime, and Ellison scored 11 of his 17 during the same time. Thompson was also eight-for-nine from the floor and led the Mocs with eight rebounds.
The win extended Florida Southern’s home-court winning streak to 14 games, and it ended an eight-game winning streak by the Tars which had started with their earlier win over the Moccasins in Winter Park. The Tars fell into an early home when they started the game one-for-four with two turnovers while the Moccasins were scoring 15 points.
Rollins got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Nick Wolf, 13 points from Matt Robertson, and 11 points from Myk Brown. A bucket by Robertson three minutes into the second half got Rollins within 15, but that was as close as the score got in the final 20 minutes.
Florida Southern will be on the road for its next game, traveling to St. Petersburg on Wednesday night to take on Eckerd College at 7:30 p.m.
(Click here to view photos from tonight's halftime salute to FSC All-Americans)
