Mocs Hit the Century Mark to Take Top Spot in the SSC

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's basketball eclipsed the century mark for the fourth time this season as the Moccasins defeated the visiting Fighting Knights from Lynn University, 103-82, Saturday night inside the George W. Jenkins Field House. Four Moccasins reached double-figures led by Lakeland native Luke Anderson who dropped 27 points in the victory including going an impressive 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
 
Due to Nova Southeastern's loss on the road at Florida Tech Saturday afternoon and the Mocs victory over Lynn, FSC now holds sole possession of first place in the SSC standings. With the victory, Florida Southern is now 13-4 on the season including an impressive 7-1 in league play. Both the Sharks of NSU and the Fighting Knights of Lynn sit at 6-2 in conference action this season including each having a loss to the Mocs this season. The Fighting Knights fell to 10-3 on the year following Saturday night's defeat.
 
"Great effort tonight," said Florida Southern men's basketball head coach Mike Donnelly. "I thought we played with great purpose and energy, and we were connected at both ends of the floor. Lynn is a talented team, so we knew we had to be ready to play tonight."
 
Graduate student Noah Louis pushed FSC past the century mark as he connected on his first career 3-pointer in a Moccasin uniform with just over one minute left in the contest. Just over thirty seconds later, freshman Luke Reilly scored his first career points as he drained a triple to match the Moccasin's largest lead of the game, 103-79. A Lynn triple on the next possession would be the final scoring of the contest as the Mocs took the 103-82 victory.
 
The Mocs shot over 50 percent from the field in the contest for the sixth time this season, connecting on 42-of-81 attempts. FSC also went over 40 percent from 3-point range for the eighth time this season while sinking 10-of-23 from long range. It was also a strong night at the free throw line as FSC went 9-of-10 for the second 90 percent or better contest this season. All 10 free throws came in the second half for FSC.
 
The Fighting Knights edged the Mocs in rebounding 44-42 while FSC dominated the turnover battle 17-7. It marked the fourth single-digit turnover performance of the season for FSC including the last three-straight contests. The Mocs also took control down low swatting eight Lynn shot attempts compared to just three blocks from the Fighting Knights.
 
Anderson led all scorers with 27 points as he went 10-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. He was also perfect at the charity stripe connecting on all four attempts. The redshirt junior collected six rebounds, dished out three assists, poked away two steals and handed out one block. Super sophomore Alex Steen was nearly unstoppable from all over the floor. The Panama City Beach, Fla. native scored 24 points while collecting seven boards and a team-best three blocks. He missed just four shots all night, going 11-of-15 from the floor including 11-of-14 from two-point range.
 
Graduate student Akol Arop was aggressive early against the Fighting Knights and finished with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. He also picked up two blocks in the victory. The final double-digit scorer was redshirt junior Joe Moon IV who finished one point behind Arop with 14. He shared the team lead in steals with three while also securing four rebounds and three assists. Redshirt junior Dominick Denny had the offense clicking as he dished out a team-best eight assists while sharing the steals lead with Moon as they each had three. Denny also contributed seven points and six rebounds.
 
Jamison Evans came off the bench to lead the Fighting Knights with 19 points while three others scored in double-figures including Tradavis Thompson (15), Jalen Gilmore (15) and Nordin Kapic (10).
 
Following a 3-pointer on Lynn's second possession of the contest to give the Fighting Knights a 3-0 lead, the Mocs began a 15-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to open up the first double-digit lead of the contest, 15-3. The Fighting Knights immediately responded with a 14-2 run of their own to tie the game at 17-all with just over eight minutes left in the opening period. A Denny triple ended the run but began a back-and-forth battle over the next few possessions.
 
After a short tight battle, the Mocs began another run as an 8-0 clip gave the hosts a 30-22 lead. Steen sparked the spurt with back-to-back baskets to open the streak. The lead eventually ballooned to a first half-best 11-points coming twice, both on Steen baskets. First Steen threw down a dunk off a Erickson Bans assist to go up 37-26 before he sunk a jumper off a Moon assist to give FSC a 39-28 edge. The Fighting Knights cut into the lead down the stretch as FSC took a 44-38 advantage into the locker room.
 
A 3-pointer by Anderson on FSC's opening possession of the second half followed by a Steen block on the defensive end and a Steen dunk on the offensive end gave FSC an 11-point lead and the advantage would not dip below double-digits the rest of the contest. A Bans 3-pointer with just under 10 minutes left gave FSC its first 20-plus point advantage of the contest, 77-56. The largest lead of 24 came three different times in the second half including on an Arop layup with just under four minutes to play, 95-71. The other two occasions came on a pair of Louis free throws with just under three minutes to play, 97-73 and the previously mentioned Reilly 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, 103-79.
 
Florida Southern will now begin a three-game road trip, the Mocs' longest of the season. The first contest on the slate is a road trip to Barry on Wednesday, Jan. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. SSC contest.
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