LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 25 Florida Southern College men's basketball dropped its first game of the Mocs Thanksgiving Classic Friday night 84-73 to the Catawba Indians at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins (4-2) started the game slowly but found a rhythm in the second half but could not stop the Indians' (2-0) momentum.
"Disappointing loss tonight," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly said. "We got off to such a poor start offensively and had to chase Catawba the entire game. Their pressure really bothered us, and we defended poorly in the second half. I know we can play a lot better and I expect us to be ready to play tomorrow night."
Erickson Bans posted a career-high 17 points with four rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes of action. Four other Mocs joined Bans in double-figures with
Luke Anderson tallying 13,
Dominick Denny and
Alex Steen at 12, while
Connor Raines came off the bench and sparked the offense with 10.
Steen and Anderson registered double-doubles on the night; Steen completed his fourth of the year with 13 rebounds as Anderson notched his first of the year with 11 rebounds.
The Indians were led by Javeon Jones with 22 points and seven rebounds while Kris Robins added 19 and DeAngelo Epps chipped in 10.
Catawba started the game off with a 10-1 run through the first seven minutes before carrying a 12-4 lead in the first 10 minutes of action. Battling back from a double-digit deficit, Florida Southern cut it to just four, 24-20 on back-to-back
Connor Raines buckets, a three-pointer, which marked the Mocs' second straight, before a fast break layup at the 4:50 mark.
The Indians would get back to a double-digit lead but an
Erickson Bans three with three seconds remaining in the half went in to make it a seven-point halftime score, 36-29.
Falling behind by 10 in the opening minute of the second half, Florida Southern fought hard on both ends of the court cutting it to just four points, 46-42, after
Alex Steen hauled in a defensive board and ran the court for the layup on the other side.
Catawba pushed it back to a double-digit game, 56-46 and 58-48, before Florida Southern answered with four points on quick jumpers from
Luke Anderson and a three-pointer from
Dominick Denny at the 8:31 mark for a five-point game, 62-57.
The Indians would capitalize on missed shots from the Mocs and pushed the game to a minimum three-possession game, and continued to a 12-point game, 75-63, with under two minutes to play. With time running out, Florida Southern would get it to within eight twice, 79-71 and 81-73, thanks to Denny's steal and Anderson's dunk, and Denny's jumper in the paint on a fast break. The Mocs were unable to get down and knock off any point differential, falling 84-73.
No. 25 Florida Southern returns to action Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. against No. 10 North Georgia, who fell in the first game of the Thanksgiving Classic 78-74 to Saint Leo. The Lions and Indians tip off day two of the classic at 5:30 p.m.
