LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College defeated Clayton State University Wednesday night in non-conference action inside Streamline Sale Arena at George W. Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins claimed a 73-67 win in the first meeting with the Lakers and improve the win streak to three games.
"It was a good win," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly commented post-game. "It's not pretty right now, but we will take it. We told the guys this was going to be a big game for us. With the week of final exams and break right around the corner, you know there's going to be a concern with effort and focus, but it was there for us tonight, so I am proud of that. We just have to quickly refocus and put our energy into this weekend's tournament."
Florida Southern (5-5) saw four players score in double-figures paced by
Jack Casale's 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor.
Xavier Rhodes dished out a game-best 10 assists, a new season-high, where he paired those with 14 points for his first double-double of the season. Joining the duo in double-digits were
Tarik Mckelphin, 17 points, and Deandre Campbell, 10 points.
Donnelly added, "Jack played the right way tonight. We tell the team that if you play the right way, good things happen. Meaning, if you stay confident, stay focused, stay disciplined, stay organized all of those things matter and your talent will take over. We just need to keep this group focused and great things happen."
E.J. Dambreville led the team once again on the glass with 14 rebounds, 12 on the defensive side. The Mocs as a team shot 44.6-percent from the field and held the Lakers to 37.9-percent.
The 26 points allowed in the first half, is a season-best for the Mocs' defense and is the second-best half since the team held Delta State to just 25 points in the second half of Florida Southern's 91-56 win on Nov. 13. The Mocs forced 18 turnovers on the night and converted those to 27 points.
"Leading up to the game, we talked about how Clayton State was a turnover prone. The first thing on our scouting report was pressure, disrupt, and harass the ball, pass, and shot to take away their space, and we would get some turnovers and that definitely happened for us."
Clayton State's Jalen Shaw led the team with a game-high 22 points where Austin Hadden (11) and Ricardo Lynch (10) both notched double-figures.
Florida Southern controlled and led the entire game once the Mocs claimed a 2-0 leadoff
Xavier Rhodes' jumper on the first trip down the floor. FSC would extend out and use 13 Clayton State turnovers to build its lead to as many as 18, 38-20, with 2:24 to go on a
Tarik Mckelphin jumper. The Lakers closed the gap at the halftime break with a 6-0 lead down the final two-minute stretch, 38-26.
The Mocs would keep pressing and extend its lead out to 17, 46-29, in a pair of Mckelphin free throws before Clayton State started to climb back into the game and cut it to just eight points, 53-45. Florida Southern rallied and built out a 14-point lead, 65-53, with 5:34 to play. Clayton State would get within five late, 72-67 with 11-ticks left, but FSC closed the games scoring with a free throw from Mckelphin with 10 seconds to play and go on for the six-point victory, 73-67.
Up Next
Florida Southern will host the Mocs Christmas Classic Dec. 18-19 inside the Jenkins Field House where the Mocs will welcome in Le Moyne, Cedarville, and Saint Leo for a four-game tournament over the two days. Florida Southern tips off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Le Moyne.
