WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's basketball program is headed to its third consecutive Sunshine State Conference Championship game, after pulling away from top-seeded Palm Beach Atlantic, 104-86, in the SSC Semifinals. The #4 seeded Mocs (7-4) will travel to the #2 seed Saint Leo University on Sunday, March 21, to face the Lions for the title.
Tonight, junior
DeAndre Campbell led four different Mocs in double-figure scoring with a career-high 25 points, shooting better than 58% from the floor.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Half
- The Mocs controlled the opening tip, with senior Jalyn Hinton scoring in the paint on the team's opening possession.
- Both teams seemed to score at will, with the game remaining tight. Eventually the host Sailfish (2-5) opened up a five point lead at 11-6, less than four minutes into the game.
- The Mocs managed to trim the deficit to just one point, 17-16, on Campbell's first three pointer of the game.
- Forward E.J. Dambreville followed with his own three ball, before guard Xavier Rhodes hit a pull-up jumper in the lane to put the Mocs up, 21-17.
- The lead reversed course, with the hosts extending their lead to as many as eight points, 33-25, at the 8:05 mark.
- The Mocs responded, getting back to within two points, 36-34, on a Hinton fast break dunk.
- The Sailfish maintained the lead, 46-40, with only 1:34 remaining before the intermission.
- Florida Southern scored the final seven points of the half, culminating with a pair of free throws from Campbell, and the Mocs took a slim 47-46 lead into halftime.
- Over the first 20 minutes, Southern shot 52.8% from the floor, as PBA shot 55.2%
- Hinton led the Red and White with 14 points, while Campbell added 12 and Dambreville ten.
2nd Half
- PBA retook the lead on the opening possession of the second half before the Mocs struck with a 6-0 run, on baskets from Rhodes and Hinton, and free throws from graduate student Brandon Carroll. The Sailfish lead would last for only 13 seconds in the half.
- Moments later, Carroll would get to the line again, making both free throw, and the Mocs were up by six, 56-50, with 17:33 to go.
- The Sailfish managed to get back within one point, 58-57, when the quick-strike Mocs did it again. Grad student Jacob Schner hit the first of his two three-pointers of the game before Campbell hit his own triple, and the Mocs suddenly led by seven.
- At the 12-minute media timeout, Southern led 67-62.
- Playing down towards the eight minute mark, Southern led by four, 74-70. However, a 9-2 Moc run pushed the lead to 11 points on a Rhodes three-pointer with 7:23 to play in regulation.
- PBA responded, but could get no closer than six points before the four-minute media timeout.
- Coming out of that break in the action, Carroll made another pair of free throws to put the Mocs ahead, 89-79, with 3:49 showing on the clock.
- A minute later, Rhodes hit a pair of free throws to propel the Mocs to a 92-83 advantage.
- From there, the Mocs out-scored the Sailfish 12-3 over the final 2:32 of the game.
- Dambreville pushed the Mocs over the century mark, as he intercepted an errant pass on the defensive side, went coast-to-coast, and slammed down a thunderous dunk.
- Freshman forward Trey Jones scored the game's final points, with a jumper with 26 ticks remaining.
- The Mocs shot an amazing 63.0% from the floor in the second stanza, scoring 57 points.
- Rhodes and Campbell each had 13 points in the second half, Followed by Dambreville's 11.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- For the game, the Mocs shot 57.1% from the floor, including 63.2% (12 of 19) from beyond the arc.
- In addition to his 25 points scored, Campbell drew eight PBA fouls.
- Only two players in the game grabbed double-digit rebounds: Hinton with 14, and Dambreville with 12. Both student-athletes recorded double-doubles.
- Dambreville now has eight double-doubles this season, appearing in only nine games.
UP NEXT
The Mocs will travel to Saint Leo University on Sunday, March 21, to face the Lions for the SSC Championship, presented by S3 Design. SLU defeated Florida Tech, 78-68, tonight in the second SSC Semifinal. No game time has been announced for Sunday as of yet.
