MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball dropped a tough Sunshine State Conference battle against the No. 25 Florida Tech Panthers, 71-68 at the Charles & Ruth Clemente Center.
"Despite coming up short this afternoon, I loved our grit," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly said. "Credit Florida Tech, they made big plays at both ends of the floor, which was the difference."
Alex Steen and
Luke Anderson led Florida Southern (11-4, 5-1 Sunshine State Conference) with a pair of double-doubles as Steen notched a 19 point-14 rebound double-double as Anderson went for 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Dominick Denny added 11 points while
Akol Arop and
Erickson Bans each tallied nine points.
Trey Jones chipped in three points on a jumper and a free throw to close out the Moccasins' scoring.
No. 25 Florida Tech (10-2, 3-2 SSC) rebounded after a loss on Wednesday with a late rally to seal the game on a pair of free throws. The Panthers saw four players in double-figures with Rashaan Edwards leading the way with 17.
Niall Harris and David McCullough notched a double-double with Harris at 16-10 (points-rebounds) as McCullough went for 14-11 (pts-reb). Chase Thompson closed out the double-digits with 12 points.
Florida Southern opened the game with a quick 5-0 lead as
Luke Anderson scored on back-to-back possessions. Florida Tech rallied and claimed its first lead of the night, 7-6, with 16:46 to play before pushing it to eight points, 14-18 with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
After trailing 27-17 at the 7:27 mark, the Mocs battled to tie things at 29 thanks to a 12-2 run capped by an Anderson layup. Florida Tech carried a five-point lead, 39-34, into the halftime break.
The Panthers would hold the lead and extend it to double-digits, 48-38, on a Chase Thompson three before Florida Southern tightened up the pressure and closed to within three on an
Erickson Bans jumper, 51-48.
Bans would later find
Alex Steen in the paint for a quick layup before Anderson hit a pair of free throws giving the Mocs its first lead since the first half, 54-53 with 8:53 to play.
Dominick Denny would drain a three to push Florida Southern up by seven with under five minutes to play before the Panthers made a cut into the deficit. After Florida Tech got within three,
Akol Arop made a layup to make it five points again but Rahsaan Edwards hit an open three to make it a one-possession game.
Niall Harris would give the Panthers a one-point lead, 68-67, before Florida Tech escaped for an 71-68 win. Florida Southern had three attempts to take the lead or tie it within the final 25 seconds, but saw just an Arop free throw, the Moccasins' final point of the night.
Florida Southern returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. when the Moccasins travel to St. Leo, Fla. to tango with the Lions of Saint Leo University inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
