Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Florida Southern College men's basketball dropped its regular-season to Eckerd, 98-82, on Saturday at the McArthur Center.
With the loss, the Moccasins (11-17, 8-10 SSC) will be the No. 7 seed in next week's Sunshine State Conference Tournament where they will face the Tritons (20-7, 13-5) in a rematch on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Eckerd.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern seized momentum early by jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the first two minutes of action, but Eckerd reeled off 9-2 run to take the lead and never trailed again. The Tritons hit a three-pointer with 18:28 to pull with one (5-4) and took the lead on their next possession en route to the win.
• The Moccasins were able to stay within striking distance until midway through the first half, when Eckerd used an 8-0 run to turn a 24-20 lead into a 32-20 advantage. The Tritons would lead by as many as 17 points in the opening period and hit a jumper at the buzzer to take a 48-33 lead into the locker room.
• Eckerd led by as many as 23 points in the second half, and never saw its lead dip below 12 points as it clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's SSC Tournament, where it will host Florida Southern on Wednesday.
• Florida Southern shot 42.3 percent (30-of-71) on the day and finished 15-of-20 at the free-throw line, but went just 7-of-23 from beyond the arc. The Tritons connected on 50.7 percent (36-of-71) of their shots, including 8-of-17 from deep and 18-of-30 at the charity stripe.
• Eckerd won the rebounding battle by a tally of 45-41, and outscored the Mocs 36-12 in the paint and 28-14 in points off turnovers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern fell to 69-36 all-time against Eckerd, including 26-20 when facing the Tritons on the road. Wednesday's contest will mark the fifth time in the past seven seasons that Florida Southern and Eckerd have squared off in the first round of the conference tournament.
• Michael Volovic led the Moccasins with 20 points to surpass 1,000 for his career. He has scored 1,008 career points, 997 in three years at Florida Southern and 11 as a freshman at Butler. With three more points on Wednesday, he will become the 41st player in school history to score 1,000 points as a Moccasins.
• Jeremiah Davis (12) and Jarel Spellman (10) also scored in double figures. Spellman also added four blocks and four rebounds. He has recorded 104 this year, and needs 11 more to set the single-season schol record for blocks.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern will face Eckerd on Wednesday in the first round of the SSC Tournament. The Moccasins enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed, while the Tritons are the No. 2 seed. The game will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the McArthur Center.
• The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the semifinal round of the SSC Tournament. The semifinals and finals will take place March 4-5 at the ICI Center on the campus of Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach.
