LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball swept the season series over Florida Tech, with an 80-74 win Saturday night at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House, as the Moccasins Laced Up 4 Pediatric Cancer for the Go4theGoal Foundation in front of 700 fans.
"We really had to grind that win out tonight," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly stated. "Florida Tech is a very good team, and difficult to match up with, but I thought our guys did a great job battling at both ends of the floor."
Donnelly added, "
Jadin Booth is a special player. He showed tonight that he is a legitimate two-way player. Jadin and
E.J. Dambreville are awesome leaders for us, and we also had great contributions from
Luke Anderson,
Dominick Denny, and
Wes Bongiorni. Certainly a big win for us."
Redshirt sophomore
Jadin Booth led Florida Southern (13-5, 7-4 SSC) with 27 points on the night, making nine field goals, three coming from beyond the arc while adding a 6-for-7 night from the free throw line. The Omaha, Neb. native added four assists and one steal while playing the full four minutes of action.
Three other Moccasins scored in double-figures with redshirt sophomore
Luke Anderson adding 16 points, redshirt sophomore
Dominick Denny 12, and redshirt senior
E.J. Dambreville with 11 points while also grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds for his third straight double-double.
Sean Houpt paced Florida Tech (14-5, 7-4 SSC) with a game-high 30 points while Mekhii Noble had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Sesan Russell finished the contest with a game-high of 10 assists for the Panthers, who were receiving votes in both the latest NABC Coaches Top-25 Poll and the D2SIDA Top-25 Media Poll.
The game featured 13 lead changes and 13 ties in the tightly contested game in Lakeland. Florida Tech started off hot with a quick 6-0 lead before it grew to 10-2 at the 16:11 mark. The Moccasins rallied with an 8-3 run to close the gap to just a single possession, 13-10, on an
E.J. Dambreville fast break pull-up jump shot heading into the under-12 media timeout.
Florida Southern continued to push the tempo and made it a one-point game, 14-13 Florida Tech, as the game stayed a one-possession game for the next four minutes.
Jadin Booth would hit a three to tie the game at 23's before a pair of
Dominick Denny's free throws pushed the Mocs ahead for the first time, 25-23. Each team possessed the lead over the final three minutes, as the Panthers headed into the break leading by one, 34-33.
Two quick scores pushed Florida Southern in front by three, 37-34, from Dambreville and
Luke Anderson. Sesan Russell would make an and-one to tie the game again at 37, with 18:10 to play. Florida Tech held the lead until Anderson continued to carry the weight in the early minutes of the second half for Florida Southern with a three at the 15:15 mark to tie the game once more at 44.
The teams would trade points, but it would be Florida Southern who pushed out to a five-point lead, 55-50, on five points from Anderson and a pair from redshirt sophomore
Tray Alexander. Despite trailing, the Panthers rallied once more to tie the game at 58 with 9:18 to go. Anderson would push the Mocs ahead, 60-58, on a turnaround jumper before Booth forced a turnover and loose ball foul on the defensive end, sending the game to the under-8 media timeout.
After a quick tie at 60, the game would remain a one-possession difference to the 4:33 mark when
Wes Bongiorni slammed it home for a four-point lead. The Panthers answered with a three of their own and eventually took a quick lead, 69-68.
Florida Southern would find momentum on its side and push out to a five-point lead on a deep three-pointer from Booth before Bongiorni's layup with 33-seconds gave the Mocs their largest lead of the game, 78-71. Florida Tech got within four, 78-74, but the Mocs would get the final two points from Booth at the free throw line as two last chances from Florida Tech wouldn't fall bringing the game to its final, 80-74.
Up Next
Florida Southern carries its three-game winning streak to West Palm Beach, Fla. Wednesday for a midweek trip to Rubin Arena to face Palm Beach Atlantic. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. after the women's game.
