TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Southern men's basketball withstood a big second half from the Tampa Spartans to win its fourth straight game and complete the season sweep of the Spartans with a 91-84 win inside the Bob Martinez Athletic Center at the University of Tampa.
"Really good win for us," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly exclaimed. "Tampa played really well and made us work at both ends of the floor. I thought our guys responded to Tampa's run in the second half by making some big plays."
Redshirt sophomore
Jadin Booth propelled the Moccasins (17-7, 11-6 SSC) with a 37-point performance. Booth, a native of Omaha, Neb., went 11-for-19 from the field including a 4-for-9 mark from beyond the arc and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals to his nightly stat line.
Donnelly added, "Jadin is playing at such a high level right now. He had another unbelievable game for us. He's a terrific player."
Behind Booth's 37, two shy of his career-high,
Dominick Denny added 16 points,
E.J. Dambreville had 14, and
Wes Bongiorni had 10 while
Alex Steen was just out of double-digits at eight. Dambreville led the Mocs on the glass with nine rebounds, all on the defensive end.
Tampa (7-15, 6-10 SSC) saw
Tyson Leitao lead the team with 22 points just ahead of
De'Andre Harvey's 21.
Jacob Harris and
Mykah Brown each finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively, including big three's down the stretch in the second half.
Florida Southern got on the board first scoring at the 19:38 mark on a layup by
Alex Steen. The two teams traded points and eventually to a tie at 6-6 and then again at 9-9, capped by
Jadin Booth's three at 14:27. From there, the Moccasins would use a 13-4 run to push to a 10-point lead, 22-12, finished off with a
Trey Jones dunk from
Tray Alexander. Florida Southern would play from ahead for the remainder of the first half, and head into the break leading by 10, 43-33.
Tampa came out of the break and lit up the scoreboard, outscoring the Mocs and tying things at 45, with 16:33 to play. Florida Southern would never fall behind the Spartans, but Tampa stayed within striking distance, even tying things at 47, 49, and 51 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
E.J. Dambreville would hit a transition three followed by the Dorchester, Mass. native finding
Wes Bongiorni for a two-handed slam, which gave the Mocs a 10-point advantage, 69-59, with 8:28 to go. The Spartans battled and got within four, 80-76, with two minutes to play, but ran out of gas as the Moccasins closed out the game with a pair of free throws from
Dominick Denny and a jumper, layup, and five free throws from
Jadin Booth as the captured the season sweep with a 91-84 win at Tampa.
The Moccasins will take a week off before heading into next Saturday's home matchup against Embry-Riddle. Time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House. Florida Southern has three games left in the regular season, two at home and one on the road.
