Mocs Men's Basketball Drops Wild 79-75 Decision at Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. – In one of the wilder basketball games this season, the Florida Southern College men's basketball team led by as many as 17 points, then trailed by 23, before rallying for a 79-75 loss at Florida Tech on Wednesday night.
These two teams have tried to face each other since early February, with the game being postponed no fewer than six times.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1^st Half

• Senior Jalyn Hinton opened scoring with a dunk on Southern's first possession of the game.
• Both teams scored the basketball, as junior Xavier Rhodes tied the score at six points apiece on a fast break layup.
• Minutes later, junior E.J. Dambreville tied the score at 16 with a layup, before grad student Jacob Schner put the Mocs on top with his own fast break layup at the 12:44 mark.
• Those baskets were the start of a 17-0 run, which saw Florida Southern take a 33-16 lead with 8:02 remaining.
• As quickly as the Mocs seized control is as quickly as Florida Tech went on their own run. With 2:35 remaining, the score was tied at 35-35.
• The host Panthers continued to dominate for the rest of the half, grabbing a 50-38 lead at the half.
• Hinton led all scorers at the break with 14 points, while Dambreville's ten rebounds led all players.

2^nd Half

• Tech continued to shoot the ball well, pushing the lead to 17, then 23 points, midway through the half.
• With the score 66-43, Southern started to heat up.
• Hinton made a traditional three-point play, before Rhodes and Dambreville scored.
• Next was junior DeAndre Campbell, then Dambreville again, and the Mocs were rolling.
• Rhodes scored on a layup at 6:57 to trim the deficit to single digits, 68-59.
• Minutes later, Florida Southern recaptured the lead, 70-69, as Dambreville knocked down a jumper. However, it was the last lead the Mocs would enjoy in the game.
• The game would remain nip and tuck, with Rhodes sinking a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining, bringing the score to 76-75 for Tech.
• Tech would make their free throws down the stretch for the 79-75 final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dambreville scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half.
• For the game, Southern shot 42.2% from the floor, while Tech shot 43.1.
• Southern grabbed more rebounds, 43-37, and had more assists, 16-14.

UP NEXT
Southern is slated to close out the regular season with a pair of home games, with PBA coming to Lakeland on Friday night, and Barry on Saturday.