BOCA RATON, Fla. – Tied at 72 with eight seconds to go,
Xavier Rhodes drove the lane with time winding down and got the last-second layup to fall to give Florida Southern men's basketball a 74-72 road Sunshine State Conference win over Lynn University Saturday evening inside the de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center.
"Great win," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly stated after the win over Lynn. "Really proud of our guys. It wasn't pretty at times, but we have been preaching for our guys to just find a way and today, we found a way to earn a huge win on the road."
With the win, Florida Southern improves to 4-5 and 2-2 in SSC play while Lynn falls to 4-3, 1-3 SSC.
Xavier Rhodes paced the team on the night with 23 points for a new career-high in 36 minutes of action on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. The redshirt junior from Lee's Summit, Mo. added five rebounds, five assists, and one steal on the night.Â
Jack Casale helped on the scoring end with 14 points, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, while
E.J. Dambreville led the team in rebounds with a game-high 15 boards, 12 coming on the defensive end. Dambreville and
Olafur Gunnlaugsson both chipped in nine points in the road win.
Four players scored in double-figures for Lynn led by Tommie Luke and Christian Peevy's 15 points apiece. Brandon Bornelus added 13 and Branden Ellis 11 as Peevy completed the double-double with 11 rebounds to lead all Fighting Knights.
Jack Casale opened up the scoring for either team with a three on the Mocs' second possession of the night. Both teams would battle tightly over the first eight minutes of the game, where it would remain a one-possession game in favor of Lynn up to the Fighting Knight's four-point lead at the 11:52 mark. Lynn pushed out to a six-point advantage, 19-13, but Florida Southern would erase that and tie things up at 19 apiece with 5:41 to play. A deep three from
Olafur Gunnlaugsson put the Mocs in front, 22-19, but Lynn erased the deficit and headed into the halftime break up 32-26.
Florida Southern opened the second half outscoring Lynn 12-6 to tie things at 38-38 14 minutes to play in regulation highlighted by six points from
E.J. Dambreville in the run.
Jack Casale drained a three to give the Mocs a one-point advantage, 41-40, before the Fighting Knights pushed its lead to four, 50-46 after a fight for the lead. Lynn would climb out to a six-point advantage but
Wes Bongiorni would make a layup to cut it to four before the under-eight minute media timeout, 63-59 Lynn.
After both teams turned the ball over on their first possessions out of the timeout, Florida Southern outscored Lynn 9-5 to tie things up at 68 forcing the Fighting Knights to call timeout right after
Wes Bongiorni swiped a pass and found
Xavier Rhodes for a layup with 3:53 remaining on the clock. Trailing by three, Rhodes would make one free throw and then follow that up with a second-chance dunk to tie things at 72-72 with 20-seconds to play. A strong defensive rebound by Dambreville would set up the Mocs to take the last shot for the win where it was Rhodes who drove the lane and laid it in as time expired for the 74-72 road win.
Up Next
Florida Southern looks to close out non-conference play for the season next week when the Moccasins play host to Clayton State, Dec. 15, before welcoming Le Moyne and Cedarville for the Mocs Christmas Classic Dec. 18-19. The Mocs and Lakers are set to tip-off on Wednesday inside the Streamline Sale Arena in the George W. Jenkins Field House at 7:30 p.m.
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