LAKELAND, Fla. – Junior
Connor Raines buried a corner three to push No. 18 Florida Southern ahead of Wisconsin Parkside with just five seconds to play. The Moccasins survived the Rangers and closed the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic with a fairytale ending that moves the Mocs to 6-0 on the year.
"Heck of a win," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly stated. "Proud that we found a way tonight. We didn't play well, but that was mostly because of Wisconsin-Parkside. They made everything tough for us tonight."
Trailing by one, 70-69, with nine seconds left in the half, redshirt senior
E.J. Dambreville cut the inbounds pass and stole the ball in the Mocs' front court. Dambreville found redshirt sophomore
Jadin Booth who drove the paint but was met by two Rangers (4-2) where he then found a wide-open
Connor Raines in the corner. Raines, a native of Beacon Falls, Conn., heard nothing but net when the shot fell through for the 72-70 lead.
A quick timeout followed by another turnover, thanks to a diving
Wes Bongiorni, gave the Mocs the ball again with 3.8 on the clock in the front court once again. Raines would be fouled and made a pair of free throws to push the Mocs ahead 74-70. Going the full court, the Rangers' Rasheed Bello made a long uncontested three to make it just the one-point final, 74-73.
The Moccasins remain undefeated after grinding from behind in the second half, trailing by as many as three multiple times down the stretch. The matchup, which was a heavy free throw contest, saw the Mocs miss just a single free throw, going 26-for-27 on the night. Redshirt sophomore
Tray Alexander went 8-for-8 from the line, all eight in the final 5:20 to keep Southern basketball in the game.
The Rangers opened the second half strong and pushed out to their largest lead of six, 39-33. The Mocs tied things up at 41 on a Dambreville three-pointer, before extending to a five-point lead, the largest of the final 15 minutes, 52-47. After the Rangers took a one-point advantage, 53-52, the game would be a one-possession contest for the final 8:59.
The game started very tight as both teams traded points but Florida Southern claimed its usual lead going up by as many as eight, 19-11 in the first period on two free throws from redshirt sophomore
Dominick Denny. UW-Parkside would battle back and take its own quick lead, 27-23, before Southern reclaimed the lead for a halftime lead of 33-29.
Dambreville paced the Mocs with another double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Booth added 14 points, Raines 12, and redshirt sophomore
Luke Anderson and
Tray Alexander each tallied 10 points. Bongiorni chipped in eight points for the Mocs. The Mocs found another way to get it done, as the usual red-hot shooting squad from beyond the arc went 4-for-19 found their way at the free throw line, 26-for-27 (96.3-percent), and 34 in the paint.
The two teams were even across the board in rebounds, 37-36 Mocs, points in the paint, 36-34 Rangers, fast break, 8-6 Rangers, turnovers 13-14 Rangers, where Florida Southern edged Parkside 11-8 in steals. The difference maker was the 14 bench points Southern received.
Florida Southern now holds a 1-0 record head-to-head against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Up Next
No. 18 Florida Southern will return to action and Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when the Moccasins host the Eckerd Tritons (3-1, 1-0 SSC) at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House.
