– The Florida Southern College men's basketball team defeated Rollins College in overtime on Saturday night behind career days from
"Big time win for us on the road," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly said. "We've been struggling the last couple of weeks, but we are getting healthier now and I knew we would be ready to play today. We needed a big win and received a great effort from our guys."
The Moccasins (11-5, 5-4 SSC) came back after trailing for the majority of the game to force overtime and eventually outlast the Tars (7-9, 4-5 SSC) by a final score of 111-106.
Booth posted a career-high 39 points in the overtime victory, going 9-17 from three-point range and 12-12 from the free-throw line.
Dambreville matched his career-high, scoring 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds, recording his 25
th career double-double.
The Mocs took their first lead of the game early, as
Tray Alexander drained a three-pointer in the opening minutes to give his team a brief lead in the opening minutes, 3-2.
The Tars responded with six straight tallies until Booth interrupted the scoring run with another three-pointer to make it 8-6 in the first three minutes of the game.
Again, Rollins went on a run in response, outscoring the visiting Moccasins 13-4 over the course of the next four minutes, making it 21-10 with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half.
A slew of substitutions over the next several minutes proved beneficial for Florida Southern, as
Connor Raines notched a three-pointer and
Trey Jones produced eight first-half points to keep the Moccasins in it despite an impressive offensive showing from the Tars.
In the first half, Rollins shot the ball extraordinarily well at 64.7% from the field, aided by 20 points from the Tars' 7'0 Center Matheus Silveira.
Battling from behind since the beginning of the game, the Moccasins were unable to tie the game in the first half until Dambreville knocked down a three-pointer with one and a half minutes to go, knotting the contest at 46.
Booth would go on to knock down five free throws in the remainder of the half, giving the Mocs a 51-49 lead headed into the break.
Headed out of the half, Booth stayed hot, knocking down a three on the opening possession of the second half to give the Moccasins their largest lead of the game, 54-49.
The Tars responded quickly, trimming the deficit to one in the early-goings of the half.
For the next eight minutes, the teams traded baskets, with neither the Tars nor the Moccasins taking more than a one-possession lead until the nine-minute mark, when Rollins gathered a 77-71 lead.
Florida Southern answered quickly, as Booth, Dambreville, and
Dominick Denny each made three-pointers in the following minutes to climb back into the contest. With just under six minutes to play, the Mocs embarked on a 7-0 scoring run to eventually tie the game at 84 with just under four and a half to play in regulation.
The Tars reclaimed the lead on a made free throw with four minutes to play, taking an 85-84 lead before both sides went stagnant until the 1:47 mark when
Noah Louis slammed a feed from Denny to put the Moccasins back up on top, 86-85.
Louis would tack on a free throw in the final minute to put his team up by two before the Tars answered with a mid-range jumper, knotting the game at 87 with 32 seconds to play.
On the ensuing possession, Florida Southern came up empty, called for an offensive foul with seven seconds to play in regulation.
On the final possession, the Tars were able to get off a long three-point try but the shot at the buzzer was too strong, sending the game to overtime, 87-87.
Ten seconds into overtime, Booth knocked down a huge three-pointer with a foul, converting on the four-point play to give the Moccasins a 91-87 lead.
The Tars trimmed the deficit with a free throw before
Luke Anderson sunk a long shot from inside the arc to put the Mocs up 93-88.
After a quick response from the Tars briefly made it a three-point game, Dambreville quieted the raucous crowd at Warden Arena with two timely three-pointers to push the Moccasin lead to nine, with two and a half minutes to play, the score 99-90.
Despite a tenacious effort from the Tars, another Booth three-pointer closed the door on any chance of an overtime comeback.
The Mocs made their free throws down the stretch as they pulled away from the Tars, winning by a final score of 111-106.
Florida Southern will turn their attention to Wednesday night, when they'll host the University of Tampa Spartans.
