Box Score MELBOURNE, FL - Florida Southern College men's basketball had six players score in double figures as a strong second-half effort propelled it to an 86-71 win over Florida Tech on Wednesday at the Clemente Center.
The Moccasins (10-13, 8-6 SSC) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but used a late surge to cut the deficit to one point at halftime, and carried the momentum over into the second half en route to its second-straight win over the Panthers (12-11, 5-9).
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern jumped out to a four-point lead (8-4) early in the first half, but the Panthers battle back to take an 11-8 lead with 14:40 on the clock. Brett Hanson drilled a three-pointer on the Moccasins' next possession to tie things up, but Florida Tech responded with a 20-8 run to jump in front by 12 points (31-19) with 7:27 to play.
• The Mocs responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Panthers 20-9 over the remainder of the half to trim the deficit to just one point (40-39) at the half.
• FSC carried the momentum over into the second half, scoring 19 points in the first five minutes of the final period to grab a 58-45 lead with 15:40 to play. The early run proved too much for Florida Tech to overcome, as the Mocs led by as many as 19 points (86-67) in the closing minutes of the game.
• The Moccasins connected on seven of their first 11 shots to open the second half, including a pair of three-pointers by Michael Volovic to cap off the run. Tyler Ross also had a steal and a fastbreak dunk during the scoring flurry.
• The Moccasins finished with a 43-36 edge in rebounds, and outscored the Panthers 42-26 in the paint.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern moved to 64-24 all-time against Florida Tech, including a 24-13 mark when facing the Panthers in Melbourne.
• Spellman has recorded four or more blocks in 10 games this season, including each of the last four contests. He has tallied 47 blocks in the last nine games (5.2 bpg), and has 80 blocks this year.
• Spellman is 10 blocks shy of tying his mark from last year, and 13 away from posting the second-highest single-season total in school history. The single-season record for blocks at Florida Southern is 114, set by Rashaad Singleton during the 2008-09 campaign.
• Jeremiah Davis led all players with 19 points on 5-of-11 from the floor. He went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, dished out four assists, and grabbed 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
• Volovic scored 16 points, while Ross had 13 points and eight rebounds. Brett Hanson added 15 off the bench, and Jack Rauch poured in 11 points to go along with three steals. Jarel Spellman scored 10 points and tallied four blocks to push his career total to 170.
• Florida Southern shot 46.4 percent (32-of-69) on the night, including 50.0 percent (15-of-30) in the second half. The Mocs also went 13-of-14 at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes of play. Florida Tech shot 42.4 percent from the floor, but was held to just 33.3 percent in the second half.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern will host Embry-Riddle in a non-conference contest on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road against Tampa (Feb. 15). The Mocs play their final regular-season home game against Lynn on Feb. 18.
