Box Score LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern College men's basketball picked up a key win with a gritty gritty 73-71 victory over Sunshine State Conference rival Nova Southeastern on Saturday at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins (8-12, 6-5 SSC) built a 15 point lead early in the second half, but had to fight off a furious rally by the Sharks (5-14, 2-10) to stay in the thick of the race for an SSC title.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern looked as if it might be in trouble early as the Sharks jumped out to a 10-3 lead, but the Mocs reeled off a 10-1 run to grab a 13-11 lead on Jarel Spellman's tip-in with 13:56 to play.
• The Moccasins would take their first double-digit lead (30-19) when Spellman converted a layup with 6:14 to play, and would take a 38-29 lead into the half after Michael Volovic drilled a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the opening period.
• FSC used the momentum from Volovic's three to extend its lead at the beginning of the second half. The Mocs saw their lead grow to 15 points (51-36) when Spellman scored with 16:38 to go, and it looked as if the rout was on.
• Nova Southeastern would not go quietly, battling back to cut the deficit to single digits (63-54) with 6:37 to go. With a number of Florida Southern players in foul trouble, the Sharks went on the attack and sliced FSC's lead to a single point (67-66) wit 2:18 to play.
• A pair of free throws from LaBrian Shiflet gave the Mocs a small cushion at 69-66, and Brett Hanson drilled a clutch three-pointer following an NSU free throw to give Florida Southern a five-point lead (72-67).
• Nova Southeastern was again able to cut the deficit to one (72-71) with 19 seconds to play, but Tyler Ross hit 1-of-2 free throws with 16 seconds left to make it 73-71, and Spellman corralled the ball after NSU missed its final shot to seal the win.
• Neither team shot particularly well on the night, as Florida Southern finished at 36.7 percent (22-of-60) and Nova Southeastern shot just 38.5 percent (25-of-65). The Moccasins outscored the Sharks by six points from beyond the arc and by six points form the charity stripe.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern won its 700th game at Jenkins Field House, and is now 700-188 inside the facility since it opened in 1965. The Moccasins are 889-331 all-time in home games. FSC is now 28-6 all-time against NSU, including 18-2 at home
• Jarel Spellman fell just shy of his second career triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in the game. He has 153 career blocks, and needs just 10 more to break Christophe Humbert's school record of 162.
• Brett Hanson scored 16 points off the bench, helping the Moccasins outscore the Sharks 25-16 in bench points.
• The second half saw both teams get into late foul trouble as Florida Southern ended the game with four players with four fouls and NSU finished with three players with four fouls. Each team had one player foul out as the teams were whistled for a combined 49 fouls and made a combined 60 trips to the free-throw line.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern will play three-straight road games, beginning with a trip to Saint Leo on Wednesday. The Moccasins will also play at Palm Beach Atlantic (Feb. 4) and Florida Tech (Feb. 8) before returning home against Embry-Riddle on Feb. 11.
