LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's basketball team lose 75-68 in a close battle with #23 Grand Valley State in its first game of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night in Streamline Sale Arena at the Jenkins Field House.
E.J. Dambreville earned a double-double (14 points, 14 rebounds), but Florida Southern (2-3) was unable to hold on in the second half. Grand Valley State improves to 4-0 on the season.
"Credit to Grand Valley; they did a great job defensively and made big plays offensively," said head coach
Mike Donnelly. "It's still early in the season, we got a big game tomorrow, so I think we gotta learn and grow from this particular loss."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Grand Valley State scored first after an early foul by the Mocs led to free throws
- Tarik Mckelphin scored first for the Mocs after a step back jumper for two
- Great passing found Dambreville for three and 5-2 Moccasin lead
- FSC continued mid-range shots with a bucket by Babatunde Ajike for 7-5 lead into the first media timeout
- Trading points, Ajike hit another jumper for a 10-9 Moc lead with 14:30 left
- Jack Casale hit the first 3-pointer of the night with 13:52 on the clock
- A 3-pointer by Jadin Booth and Xavier Rhodes led to a fast break score extending the lead to six near the midpoint of the game
- Mckelphin hit an emphatic dunk off an inbound pass and 24-16 lead with 8:54 left
- Building a 14-point lead, Rhodes hit a 3-pointer with 6:05 in the first
- Dambreville's 3-pointer and another fast break score by DeAndre Campbell put the score to a 36-20 Moc lead
- Late turnovers brought the Lakers within 10 points just over two minutes left
- A jumper by Dambreville halted a rally by the Lakers with 1:30 on the clock
- Trey Jones entered the game with a dunk and 12-point lead
- Moccasins took a 42-32 lead into halftime.
- Florida Southern ended the half shooting 18-for-34 (53 percent)
- Rhodes led all scorers with 10 points for Florida Southern, while Mckelphin and Dambreville had eight
Second Half
- FSC went scoreless the first four minutes of the game as the Lakers narrowed the deficit to one
- Campbell made both free throws to stop the scoring drought and keep a 3-point lead with 15:00 left
- Casale nailed a 3-pointer and found Booth for points in the paint and 49-44 lead with 13:20 on the clock
- Fouled on a 3-point attempt, Booth made all three for a four-point lead
- Grand Valley State was in foul trouble early as the Mocs had the bonus with just over 10 minutes left in the game
- Florida Southern stayed strong in free throw attempts as Booth hit both of his for 56-52 lead with 9:58 left
- A 3-pointer by Dambreville was the first field goal made by the Mocs in nearly three minutes
- Campbell stuck a strong layup and eight point lead with over eight minutes left
- The Lakers took their first lead of the second half, 62-61, with 6:11 left
- Mocs took back the lead with a tip-in shot by Dambreville and 63-62 lead with 4:28 left
- The Lakers had a 6-0 run and 68-63 lead over the Mocs just under two minutes left in the game
- Booth nailed a 3-pointer to narrow the deficit to three with 58 seconds left
- Grand Valley State hit their free throws to hold on to win 75-68
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Florida Southern's biggest lead was 18 points with 4:28 left in the first half.
- Grand Valley State outrebounded Florida Southern 43-38.
- Dambreville and Rhodes tied for the team lead in assists with five apiece.
- The Mocs ended up shooting 37.9 percent from the field (25-for-66) and connected on eight 3-pointers.
- Dambreville stuffed the stat sheet with 14 rebounds to go with his 14 points and six assists.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern will have their second game of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against St. Edward's.
