LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball dropped an 85-80 Sunshine State Conference battle to Eckerd College Wednesday night at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins saw five players score in double-figures led by Lakeland, Fla., native
Luke Anderson.
"Credit to Eckerd," head coach
Mike Donnelly opened. "They made a lot of winning plays and made big shots in the second half, which was the difference. We just need to focus on getting healthy and learn from some of our mistakes tonight. Fortunately, we have an opportunity to bounce back on Saturday against Tampa. I'm looking forward to watching us compete."
Luke Anderson paced Florida Southern, who moves to 15-6 overall and 9-3 in league play, with 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field including one three and a 3-for-4 night from the free throw line. Anderson narrowly tacked on another double-double with nine rebounds while finishing with two steals and one assist.
Dominick Denny was second on the team in scoring with 18 points, 14 in the second half to lead the charge.
Joe Moon IV finished the night with 14 points and a pair of threes while going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Akol Arop notched a double-double in the loss with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Erickson Bans closed the double-figure scorers with 10 points, tying Moon in a team-best two three-pointers.
Trey Jones finished the scoring for Mocs with four points, a reverse layup in the first half, and a pair of free throws.
Carr Thiam led Eckerd (12-8, 7-5 SSC) with a game-high 26 points with five three-pointers while Timothy Thompson recorded a double-double with 17 rebounds and 14 points. Isaiah Placide finished with 21 points as George Kimble chipped in 12 points.
Florida Southern opened the game on a 10-0 run, holding Eckerd to zero points through nearly the first five minutes of play. After two quick buckets by the Tritons, the Moccasins would push it back to 10, 14-4, before Eckerd closed to within three, 18-15 with 9:14 to play. But Florida Southern answered quickly with a jumper from
Dominick Denny (20-15) then an old-fashioned three-point play from
Luke Anderson made it 23-15. The Mocs would cling to a two-point lead at the break, 35-33.
Having made just one three in the first half, Florida Southern started to knock down threes to break the second half open after a pair of made free throws from
Akol Arop started the scoring.
Joe Moon IV drained the first of five threes in the second half to give Florida Southern a seven-point lead, 40-33. Anderson converted another three-point play with a jumper and free throw before
Erickson Bans drained a three to make it 49-40 with 16:53 to play.
After the Mocs scored on back-to-back played, an Anderson driving layup and a Denny layup (53-43), Eckerd would outscore Florida Southern 16-6 to tie things at 59-all with 8:17 to go in regulation. The Moccasins played in front but the Tritons tied and eventually took a brief lead, 68-67, on a Carr Thiam free throw. The Moccasins answered quickly, going on a 5-0 spurt with Denny's two free throws and Moon's three (72-68), but Eckerd once again tied it at 73 with 2:27 on the clock.
Florida Southern could not overcome the deficit despite getting within two, 77-72, off a layup from
Akol Arop with a minute to go. George Kimble drained a three to give the Tritons a five-point lead with 42 ticks left before a pair of blocks on the defensive end for Eckerd stopped the Moccasins' threat.
The Mocs saw Bans' hit a three in the corner from Denny to make it 82-78 before fouling to stop the clock and sending the Tritons to the line wrapping up the final 20 seconds of play. Eckerd converted three of four free throws while Moon made the final bucket, a driving layup with 10 seconds to play (84-80). Florida Southern saw a look for a three but to no avail as the Mocs fell short, 85-80 to the Tritons.
Florida Southern looks to rebound Saturday, with a trip to Tampa for a 4:00 p.m. tip inside the Bob Martinez Athletics Center against the Spartans.
