LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's basketball team outdueled Lynn University 84-74 Saturday to earn the Sunshine State Conference win inside the Streamline Sale Arena at the George W. Jenkins Field House.
Florida Southern moves to 11-12 overall and 8-7 in Sunshine State Conference play behind
Luke Anderson's career-high 22 points. The freshman guard from Lakeland, Fla., notched his career-high on 7-of-14 shooting from the field including a 3-for-5 night from beyond the arc. Anderson added a 5-for-6 performance from the free throw line, where the Mocs as a team shot 9-for-12.
"Out offensive numbers in the second half were great, but I thought defensively we did a really nice job to secure another big conference win," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly commented after the game. "I love that we had very balance scoring with five guys in double-figures, and our freshman continue to impress as they combined to score 40 points tonight."
A quartet of Moccasins joined Anderson in double-digits with a pair notching double-doubles.
E.J. Dambreville tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds while
Xavier Rhodes tallied 13 points and 11 assists.
Jack Casale added 14 points with
Jadin Booth adding 10 points off the bench. All players that registered minutes in the win tallied points,
Wes Bongiorni with five, and
Dominick Denny and
Babatunde Ajike with two apiece.
Lynn slides to 9-9 overall and 3-9 in league play. The Fighting Knights were led by Christian Peevy who notched a game-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Peevy wrapped up his double-double with 11 rebounds.
The Fighting Knights caught the Moccasins on their heels and claimed an early nine-point lead, 14-5. Florida Southern rallied and cut it to just two points with nine minutes to play, 24-22, on an and-one play from
Xavier Rhodes.
Jadin Booth would nail a three-pointer to give the Mocs the lead, 25-24. A quick flip in score would see the Knights take a one-point lead but it wouldn't last long as the pace of play from FSC gave the Mocs the lead right back and pushed to four on an
E.J. Dambreville three, 30-26. Florida Southern would hold the advantage and go into the lockeroom with a two-point lead, 38-36.
Florida Southern would come out of the break and continue to push the pace, extending its lead to double-digits, 53-43, with 15:23 to play. The Mocs would maintain the lead and never look back, clinging to more than a two-possession game for the final 15 minutes of action. The Fighting Knights would get within six points multiple times but could never crack the gap as FSC went on for the 10-point win, 84-74.
Up Next
Florida Southern remains at home and will host Tampa in an SSC tilt Feb. 9 inside the Streamline Sale Arena at George W. Jenkins Field House with a 7:30 p.m. tip.
