WINTER PARK, Fla. – Florida Southern College battled out a tough 81-77 road Sunshine State Conference win over Rollins College at Warden Arena Wednesday night. The Moccasins' strong defense in the second half helped lead FSC over Rollins, and held the Tars to just 32-percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
"I am super proud of the guys," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly opened commenting after the game. "We got down early but I liked our focus. We spent a lot of time preparing for this game and we started making shots and getting locked into our game plan defensively."
Florida Southern improves to 10-12 overall and moves to even 7-7 in Sunshine State Conference play after a powerful second half. The win, the third in a row for the Mocs, moves the season series to even, 1-1, after both programs won on the road. The Tars earned the 96-77 win in Lakeland while the Mocs won on the road, 81-77, in Winter Park.
The Moccasins were led by
E.J. Dambreville's 26 points while he grabbed eight rebounds.
Wes Bongiorni notched a double-double in the contest with 14 points and 11 rebounds while
Xavier Rhodes added 14 points and
Luke Anderson 13.
Rollins falls to 12-10 overall and also an even 7-7 in league play after the loss. Hutton Yenor led the way with a game-high 27 points with Brooks Cluxton tallying a double-double with a game-high 18 rebounds and 15 points.
Rollins controlled the pace at the start of the game and ran out to a double-digit lead, 25-14 with 10 minutes to play before pushing it to 12, 32-30, with 7:38 to play. FSC battled back and cut the lead and eventually tied it, 38-38, on a
Luke Anderson three-pointer. The Tars would take a three-point lead into the break, 45-42.
A tight second half would see the Mocs tie things and take a four-point lead, 53-49, on an
E.J. Dambreville three-pointer. Rollins would erase a quick run and push the lead out to nine, 65-56, before another storm from FSC saw the game tie up at 68, 5:24 to play. Over the next four-minute, both teams claimed a lead but couldn't sustain it.
Jadin Booth would convert two free throws, the first two of six for the Mocs down the final 20-seconds, to tie things and give the Red and White the one-point lead, 77-76.
Luke Anderson would go 2-for-2 to make it a three-point advantage before Rollins' Hutton Yenor could only go 1-for-2 from the line to cut the lead, 79-77.
Xavier Rhodes would make it a four-point game with five ticks left going 2-for-2 himself from the line. The Tars' final three attempt would miss as the Mocs claimed the four-point, 81-77 road win.
Up Next
Florida Southern will return home after two road games to host Lynn on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Streamline Sale Arena at the George W. Jenkins Field House.
