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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Florida Southern concluded its exhibition slate here Sunday afternoon by falling 96-54 to Division I Syracuse in front of 7,760 fans inside the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse University campus.
Sunday's game was the reigning Division II National Champion Moccasins' second consecutive exhibition game against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference as they opened exhibition play with a 112-68 loss at reigning Division I National Champion Duke last Friday.
In Sunday's exhibition finale, the Orange jumped out to a 10-0 lead and in fact scored 21 of the game's first 23 points en route to a 53-22 lead at the half.
"We once again did not get off to good start and then we had to play from behind and that is hard to do against a team like Syracuse, especially today, the way they were hitting shots," Moccasin head coach Mike Donnelly said following the game. "I didn't like our effort and play in the first half, but I thought we played better in the second half on both ends of the floor, but need to improve."
The Mocs, who finished the game shooting just 31 percent from the field and 23 percent from the 3-point line, hit just two of its first 16 shots and connected on just 28 percent of its first half shots against the Orange's vaunted 2-3 zone defense.
"It was extremely difficult to execute against Syracuse's zone. We started a small line-up with four guards and in practice we looked great in our zone offense, but it's a lot different level when you go against that size and length," said Donnelly. "They are so long, they talk and are active in the the zone. Plus, they recover so quick, so one guy can get beat, but someone is always behind them to recover."
While the Mocs struggled shooting the ball on the day, Syracuse finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 48 percent from the 3-point line, including shooting 63 percent from the floor and 67 percent (8-for-12) from the 3-point line in the game's first 20 minutes.
"It would've helped us had they (Syracuse) been a little off, but they executed well on both ends of the floor. Those guys were locked and that is something we just talked about as a team that we have to get too," said the first-year Moccasin coach. "I can't say enough good things about how Syracuse played, how they shared the ball and everything was in rhythm and how they played with a lot of confidence."
Senior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) paced the Mocs offense with a game high 23 points, including scoring 17 of those points in the second half. In the second half, the Mocs were outscored, 43-32.
Along with Williams, junior guard Sheldon Zablotny (Erie, Pa.), who played the past two years at Niagara (N.Y.) County Community College, tallied 10 points off the bench, including scoring eight of the Mocs 22 first half points. The Mocs scored 24 of its 54 points off the bench.
FSC did finish the game with a 43-40 edge on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds. In the first exhibition game against Duke, the Mocs were outrebounded, 55-29.
Senior forward Dylan Karell (North Miami Beach, Fla.) led the way with six boards, while five Mocs had four, including Zablotny and sophomore forward Tyler Ross (St. John, Ind.), who also added seven points in the game.
The Orange, who earned a 97-58 win in its exhibtion opener on Monday against LeMoyne, was paced offensively by 18 points from Malachi Richardson. Richardson finished 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from the 3-point line. He was one of six Orange players to score in double figures as Trevor Cooney added 15 points and Michael Gbinije had 14 points, five assists and five steals. Kaleb Joseph had 13 points off the bench, while Tyler Lydon had 12 points and Tyler Roberson chipped in 10 points.
FSC finished the game with 28 turnovers, including 16 in the first half. Syracuse scored 45 points off those 28 turnovers. The Orange finished with 15 turnovers for the game.
"The simple fact, our motivation level, our intensity and focus level needs to be through the roof right now," Donnelly added when asked about what his team needs to improve on after playing these two exhibition games. "Our guys should be anxious to get back on the court. No one likes to lose like we've done in these two exhibitions and you can't take anything away from either Duke or Syracuse, they were terrific, but simply focusing on us, we need to be a lot better as team."
The Mocs will open the 2015-16 regular season this coming weekend as they travel to Livingston, Ala., to play in the SSC/GSC Challenge hosted by the University of West Alabama. The Mocs will open its 89th season on Friday, Nov. 13 with a 3 p.m. Eastern game against West Alabama, before facing Delta State on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern.
