Box Score
LAKELAND - Florida Southern used a 25-10 run over a span of nearly 10 minutes in the second half to rally from a 14 point deficit en route to earning a 78-71 win here Saturday afternoon over Benedict in non-conference action at Jenkins Field House.
With the win, the Moccasins improve to 6-1 on the season and extend its winning streak to four straight games overall and run its homecourt win streak to three straight. Saturday's game was the third in the last seven days for the Mocs as they opened Sunshine State Conference play with a 61-56 win at Lynn last Saturday, before collecting a 99-77 home win Monday over Armstrong Atlantic.
"Benedict is a very good team. I'm proud of the way our team battled and fought back after trailing by double digits in the second half," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said. "Everyone that played gave us good minutes, whether they played four or the whole game. You've got to be ready to come off the bench and play."
The rally, which was keyed by seven points from sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and capped by a lay-up from junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.), helped turn a 52-38 deficit into a 63-62 lead with 5:36 left in the game. During the run, junior forward Lamar McKnight (Bedford, Ohio) drilled two three-pointers for his third and fourth triples of the season.
"Our guys did a really good job at battling back today," said Darner following his team's third come-from-behind win of the season and second in the last week. "During the big second half run, we hit some big shots and were able to turn them over, which helped lead to some easy baskets. Both teams play very similar."
The Tigers, who fell to 4-3 with the loss, closed the first half on a 8-2 run to take a 38-32 lead at the half and then opened the second half on a 14-6 run to take a 52-38 lead following two free throws by Xavier Collier with a little less than 15 minutes left in the game. The second half run was aided by six points from Collier and five points from 6-foot-10 center Marcus Goode, who was playing his first game of the season after sitting out the first semester for academic issues. Goode is a two-time SIAC Player of the Year and a two-time All-South Region honoree and earned All-American honors a season ago.
Goode finished the game with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds and added five blocked shots for the Tigers. In addition to Goode, Brennan Reynard led the way for Benedict as he finished with 20 points and had five steals. Reynard scored 12 of his 20 points in the opening half.
One of the biggest catalysts for the Mocs in the second half was their ability to force turnovers as the Mocs forced Benedict into 12 turnovers that led to 20 points. In the first half, Benedict committed just nine turnovers.
"We tried to get the ball out of Collier's hands and were able to force Reynard to turn the ball over, which was a key in our second half rally," said Darner, who is 2-0 this season against SIAC foes. Reynard finished with a game-high eight turnovers.
After Lane gave the Mocs a 63-62 lead on his lay-up, Capers pushed the Mocs lead out to five points at 67-62 following back-to-back lay-ups. After Goode, who scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime, hit a jumper in the lane to push the Tigers within 67-64, the Mocs used a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Lane to extend its lead to 74-66 with 1:46 remaining.
"Dom (Lane) has turned into a great scorer for us this year," the Mocs coach said. "He constantly is in the gym working on his game. He has a great work ethic."
Lane led the way offensively for the Mocs for the fourth straight game as he finished with 19 points and added six boards. In addition to Lane, McKnight added 14 points and seven boards, while Capers tallied 13 points off the bench in the win.
"Lamar has hit big shots for us all season, just like he did today," Darner added. "He is still learning the system, but makes up for it with his hard work on the court."
The Tigers would get as close as five points at 76-71 following a trey by Reynard with 27 seconds left, but Lane hit two free throws five seconds later to push the Mocs lead back out to 78-71. The Mocs sealed the win when Collier committed a turnover on the in-bounds play with 18 seconds remaining.
In the opening eight minutes of the game, the teams scored a combined 39 points, including scoring a combined 24 points in the opening six minutes of the contest. During the early part of the game, the lead changed hands seven times until the Mocs used a 13-2 run to take a 28-20 lead with 7:34 left in the opening half. The run was keyed by seven points from Lane and capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.).
Benedict, though, responded with a 10-0 run to take a 30-28 lead following basket by Goode with 2:47 left. Freshman guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) would tie the game at 30 on a lay-up 16 seconds later, before Benedict closed the first half on its 8-2 run.
For the game, the Mocs shot 42 percent from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point line, while Benedict shot 49 percent from the floor, but only connected on 27 percent of its 22 3-point attempts. The Mocs held a 39-37 edge on the glass, including collecting 15 offensive boards that led to a 15-6 edge in second chance points.
The Mocs will now take nine days off to complete first semester exams before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 17 as they host Tuskegee in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Jenkins Field House.
