Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Southern's recent winning streak was short lived as the Mocs fell in Sunshine State Conference action to Eckerd, 56-53, at the McArthur Center on the Eckerd campus.
The loss brings the Moccasins' overall record to 7-15 on the season and 2-10 in the conference, while the Tritons improved their record to 9-12 and 2-9 in the conference. Eckerd's win completes the 2013-14 sweep, as the Tritons previously posted a 53-43 victory in January in Lakeland.
The Tritons jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the half, before the Mocs scored four straight points from sophomores Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) and Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) to take a one point lead. The lead was short-lived as Eckerd scored the next three baskets to jump out to a four-point lead as the Mocs were forced to burn a timeout.
Florida Southern came out of the break scoring four straight points thanks to baskets from freshman Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) and Harris to comme to within two before Eckerd scored the next six points to jump out to a 17-11 lead with 10:44 remaining in the first half.
Two free throws from senior Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) and a three-pointer from junior Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) brought FSC to within three of tying the game at 7:44 of the half, but Eckerd answered right back with a 16-2 run that lasted the remaining 6:31 of the first half to bring the half to a conclusion with Florida Southern trailing 35-19 at the break.
Thompson led the Mocs in scoring in the half with six points off two three-pointers, while Lamberg pulled down five of the team's 19 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Florida Southern shot 7-31 from the field for 22.6 percent in the first half, compared to Eckerd's 12-26 for 46.2 percent, while being outrebounded 20-19 and out-assisted 10-4.
A layup from Liga Vente following a Lamberg jumper kept the Mocs down 16 before Florida Southern scored 11 unanswered points to pull to within five with 13:04 remaining in the half. The run, kicked off by a layup and free throw from Harris, featured a Lamberg layup and treys from Sanders and Thompson to pull to within five of the Tritons.
Eckerd answered right back with to widen their lead back to ten with back-to-back baskets. Freshman Morgan Siebka (Slippery Rock, Pa.) jumped on the board with the next four Moccasin points to pull the team to within seven before a Triton three from Amy Buccilla put Eckerd back up by 10.
Sanders drained three straight shots for a total of six points to put the Mocs down 46-42 with 7:27 remaining in the game. A layup from Ivana Grbic put the score at 48-42 ith 6:48 to go, but Florida Southern went off in the next four minutes.
Started by a layup from Harris, the Mocs went on a furious 8-2 run to tie the game at 50 with less that three minutes remaining before the final buzzer. The run, which featured baskets from Harris, junior Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.), Lamberg and Sanders, lasted nearly three minutes and tied the score for only the second time all game.
A Vente layup at 2:39 gave Eckerd a two-point lead before Thompson nailed a three off a pass from Davis for Florida Southern's first lead since 17:51 of the first half, putting the Mocs ahead 53-52 just over two minutes to go.
The Moccasin lead was short lived, as Grbic put the Tritons ahead just seconds later before Eckerd called a 30-second timeout with 39 seconds remaining on the clock.
Kayla Bowlin hit two free throws after a Thompson foul to put Eckerd ahead 56-53 with just 10 seconds remaining before head coach Holly Borchers called a timeout to draw up a play for a chance at overtime. Although Sanders just got the shot off, it wouldn't go in and Eckerd barely escaped a furious Moccasin comeback.
Four FSC players scored in the double-digits, with Sanders leading the way with 13 points, followed by 12 from Thompson and 10 from Lamberg and Harris. Lamberg was one rebound shy of her second-straight double-double of the season, while also leading with four of the team's 12 assists.
Florida Southern outrebounded Eckerd 38-31, while hitting 35 percent of their three-point attempts compared to Eckerd's 28.6 percent. The teams were tied for points in the paint with 24 each, while FSC took the 2nd-chance points category, 11-3.
Vente led the Tritons in scoring with 13 points, while Grbic and Rana Thomas tied for a team-high six rebounds apiece in the victory, their 10th all-time against the Mocs.
The Mocs return to the hardwood on Friday, Feb. 15, for a 5:30 showdown with Florida Tech in Melbourne. The teams last squared off at the Jenkins Field House in January, where Harris scored a career-high 25 points in a thrilling 63-62 defeat. Florida Tech fell to 18th-ranked Rollins 71-61 in Winter Park Wednesday evening.
