LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball fell in the final seconds to Auburn University at Montgomery 68-65 at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House.
Florida Southern (3-1) held a five-point lead at the half but a strong second half by Auburn Montgomery (2-0) shut down the Moccasins' offense where the Warhawks outscored FSC 33-25 in the second half for the 68-65 final.
"Disappointing loss," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly commented. "I thought our guys battled, but we made quite a few costly mistakes and got beat badly on the glass, which cost us tonight. Credit to Auburn Montgomery. They are a mentally and physically tough team. I know we will regroup and be ready to play next weekend vs Lincoln University."
Luke Anderson paced the Moccasins on the second straight night with 19 points while
Akol Arop notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Four other Mocs tallied points in the game with
Alex Steen at 15,
Erickson Bans at 11,
Dominick Denny at six, and
Joe Moon IV at four.
Five Warhawks also tallied double-digits led by Jalen Gaston's 15. Deven Tucker posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Malachi Rhodes had a game-high 12 boards off the glass, which AUM won the rebounding total, 52 to 32.
Auburn Montgomery jumped out to a blazing start, picking up where the Warhawks left off at Saint Leo Friday night, for a 15-7 lead in the first three minutes of action. An
Alex Steen dunk stopped the run, but only lasted seconds before five straight from Jalen Gaston pushed AUM back in front 20-9. A 10-0 run brought Florida Southern within two, 20-18 before the Mocs tied things at 27 with 6:39 to play off a
Dominick Denny three-pointer.
Florida Southern would turn things up and hold Auburn Montgomery to just six points in the final 6:39 where the Red and White would tally 13 to cling to a five-point lead at the break.
Opening the second half strong, Florida Southern pushed to an eight-point advantage, 45-37, but Auburn Montgomery came battling back and cut it to just two, 47-45, with 14:32 to play.
After the two teams played to a 57-57 tie, both programs would go scoreless for nearly four minutes until
Luke Anderson drained a three to put the Mocs on top 60-57. AUM jumped in front for the first time since midway through the first half with a jumper, 61-60.
With the shot clock running down, Anderson drained a deep three to briefly give the Mocs a lead, 63-61.
Dominick Denny swiped the ball away from the Warhawks and converted one of two free throws to make it a three-point game, a lead which the Warhawks overcame on a jumper and a pair of free throws from Jalil Robinson, 65-64 with 1:28 to go.
Steen would go 1-for-2 from the stripe to make it 65-all with 1:15 remaining. AUM's Robinson would race down the court and make a jumper for a lead and eventually made a free throw to make it a three-point lead with just two ticks left in the contest.
Robinson's second free throw bounced off the front of the iron where Steen soared to grab the ball, but not enough time to outlet and get a look for what would be a game-tying three.
Florida Southern will take a week off before hosting Lincoln University (Pa.) on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4:00 p.m. for Alumni Day. The Moccasins will welcome back and honor its alumni in attendance with a 1 p.m. alumni game on Saturday afternoon.
