LAKELAND, Fla. – The 18
th-ranked Florida Southern College men's basketball team topped the visiting Anderson University Trojans 112-91 in game two of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic at Streamline Sale Court in the George W. Jenkins Field House.
"I am happy with how well we played at the offensive end," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly stated. "I thought we had really good speed both in transition and in the halfcourt, which resulted in great offensive rhythm and execution tonight."
Florida Southern (5-0) kicked off its Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic with a collective team effort to top Anderson (2-4) Friday night. The Moccasins saw 13 of its 14 players that logged minutes tally two points or more, led by redshirt sophomore
Jadin Booth. Booth, a native of Omaha, Neb., finished two points shy of his career-high but tallied 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting including sinking six three-pointers and going a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Booth added seven rebounds to lead all Mocs on the glass and dished out two assists.
Donnelly continued, "We did a good job sharing the ball and playing together with a lot of confidence. We also had terrific bench production, and it was good to see some of our younger guys have the opportunity to contribute tonight."
Redshirt senior
E.J. Dambreville was second on the team with 19 points ahead of redshirt sophomore
Luke Anderson's 16 points. Redshirt sophomore
Dominick Denny added 11 points off the bench for the Mocs in 19 minutes of action. Point breakdown for the Mocs in the collective team effort was redshirt sophomore
Tray Alexander with eight points, junior
Connor Raines with seven, sophomore
Olafur Gunnlaugsson with six, freshman
Donovan Smith at five, fifth-year
Noah Louis and redshirt sophomore
Trey Jones each with four, while redshirt sophomore
Wes Bongiorni, freshman
Riley Buccino, and freshman
Alex Steen all had two points in the win at home.
Florida Southern outscored Anderson 41-14 in bench points, while winning the rebounding matchup, 41-34, and points off turnovers, 28-13, on 19 Trojan turnovers. The Mocs edged the Trojans in second-chance points, 17-11, but dominated in the fast break, 25-6.
"We have a quick turnaround and play a very good Wisconsin-Parkside team tomorrow night, so we need to quickly prepare and shift our focus to play and get ready for another big-time effort," Donnelly concluded.
Florida Southern came out red-hot and claimed a quick 8-3 lead, but Anderson battled back to take a 12-11 lead early in the first half. The two teams traded points for a minute but
Jadin Booth's fastbreak layup pushed the Mocs ahead, 18-15 with 14:21 to play and Southern never looked back.
Dominick Denny capped a 13-6 run that gave FSC its first 10-point lead, 31-21. The Mocs would go on to lead by as many as 16 in the first half, 55-36 thanks to another three from Booth, and carried a 57-42 advantage to the locker room.
Southern would claim a 17-point lead with just under 15 minutes to play and finally cracked the 20-point advantage on a
Riley Buccino fastbreak layup, 93-73.
Tray Alexander's three with 5:32 remaining put the Mocs at the century mark, 100-76, and saw Florida Southern cruise to the games final, 112-91.
Up Next
Florida Southern returns to action Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Wisconsin-Parkside, who rallied in the second half against Saint Leo in game one of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic. The Moccasins and Rangers will head into the match looking to meet for the first time.
*Editors Note: 112 points: It's the second time this season the Mocs have scored over 100 points; the program moves to 156-7 all-time in games scoring over 100 points.
