Box Score LAKELAND - Seth Evans' first-half scoring helped put Florida Southern up by five at halftime, and Tyler Kelly's second-half scoring ensured the Moccasins would double that lead and finish with a 77-67 victory over Lynn on Saturday night. Combined with an earlier loss by Rollins, it also moved Florida Southern within a half game of first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings.
Evans topped 20 points for the fifth time this year, and the third time in conference play for the Moccasins (11-5, 5-3), finishing with a game-high 21. Of that total, 12 came in the first half, and all of them kept the Knights (10-9, 3-4) barely arm's length. Kelly then scored all 11 of his points in the second half as the Mocs never surrendered the lead they already had, but didn't pull away until they went 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the final two minutes.
In the first half, Evans scored his first points on a layup to give the Mocs an 8-3 lead just under four minutes into the game. After the Knights cut the gap to three again on their next possession, Evans again pushed it back to five with a second-chance bucket. He followed that with a 3-pointer that gave the Mocs a 15-7 lead. Lynn was able to tie the game twice before halftime, but each time it was Evans who put the Mocs back in front. The second time occurred with 2:23 to play when his second 3-pointer of the game snapped a 30-30 tie and gave Florida Southern the lead the rest of the night.
In the second half, it was Kelly's turn to score some key points as the freshman guard made his first basket with a little over 17 minutes to play when he drained a 3-pointer that put the Mocs ahead 46-38. The Mocs' first double digit lead also came from Kelly when he made two free throws to make the score 54-43 with 12:46 remaining. He would make six more free throws by the end of game, going 8-for-8 from the line overall, with four of those free throws coming in the final two minutes. It marked the first time in his college career that Kelly reached double figures in points, and he added a career-high five rebounds and four assists as well.
Florida Southern also got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Brett Bailey, and 12 points and seven boards from Cameron Vines. Kevin Capers picked up nine points, four rebounds and four steals. Capers was 7-for-8 from the line, and along with Evans and Kelly was a big part of the late-game free throw shooting that allowed the Mocs to pull away for the win.
With Kelly, Capers and Evans doing most of the work, the Mocs made 25-of-29 foul shots in the game, an .862 percentage that was their second highest of the season and their third straight game over .800. The Mocs shot just 36 percent from the floor, however, but helped counter that by committing just eight turnovers.
Lynn shot 39 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 17 times. The Knights, who came into the game as the league's best 3-point shooting team, were 8-for-20 from long range though, and 15-for-20 from the line. Four Knights scored in double figures, led by Jeremy Lampkin, who had 14 points and seven rebounds. Jerrell Oxendine had 13 points off the bench and was 3-for-4 on 3-point attempts. Lynn's leading scorer, Josh Garcia, had 11 points, but was only 2-for-11 from the field. SSC rebounding leader Michel Vidal had 14 boards.
Florida Southern will play a non-conference game on Wednesday night when it hosts Palm Beach Atlantic at 7:30 p.m. The Moccasins now trail both Rollins and Florida Tech by a half game in the SSC standings, and are holding off Eckerd, Barry and Nova Southeastern by the same half game margin.
