Smith, #19 Mocs Light Up Warhawks

LAKELAND, Fla. – In a revenge game from the matchup a year ago, No. 19 Florida Southern blew past Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) 109-79 Friday afternoon at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House.
 
No. 19 Florida Southern (2-1) picked up its first win against Auburn Montgomery (0-1) after just three attempts with a setback in the 2016-17 season and the 2023-24 campaign.

"Obviously, always happy to get a win," Head Coach Mike Donnelly stated post-game. "But I was very pleased that we did a lot of things well this afternoon and improved in some key areas which we have emphasized to the team." 
 
Junior Donovan Smith lit up the scoreboard checking in for 24 points in 16 minutes. He finished the night going 8-for-12 from beyond the arc adding just one more miss inside where he tallied one block, and one rebound in the game. His previous career high was 16 points against Lynn back on Dec. 29, 2022, as his eight three-pointers doubled his previous best of most made in a game of four multiple times.

"Donovan provided a huge lift off the bench for us. As a team, we have been struggling shooting the ball, so his production was huge and it really helped to settle us offensively," Donnelly added on Smith's career night.
 
Behind Smith's game-high, Jadin Booth and Alex Steen each added 17 points. Steen picked up his 18^th career double-double adding 16 rebounds, while Booth dished out nine assists missing his double-double, both marks were off each career-high in each respective category for Steen and Booth.
 
Peyton Gerald scored 14 points in 22 minutes of action with Kristians Feierbergs scoring 12 in 24 minutes. Dominick Denny added 11 points in 25 minutes as Amare Miller (6), Trey Jones (4), Joe Moon IV (2), and Ameer Ramadan (2) closed out the scoring for the Moccasins.
 
The Warhawks were paced by Sam Youngblood who had a team-high 17 points ahead of Malachi Rhodes (13) and Trent Coleman (12).
 
Florida Southern scored the game's first points on a Denny dish to Steen for the slam and the Moccasins would never look back. After a tight two minutes where it was just 3-2 Warhawks with 18 minutes to play in the opening frame, Florida Southern gained control and carried the momentum to a double-digit lead and a halftime score of 49-34.
 
Heading into the second half, the red hot Mocs continued to push ahead and saw Donovan Smith bury three's as if he was on the shooting gun in practice. He would go on to make six in the second half with the Moccasins extending its lead to its largest of the game of 30, and the eventual game's final 109-79 as Trey Jones closed the scoring with a tip-in.
 
No. 19 Florida Southern returns to the hardwood Sat., Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. as the Moccasins host Savannah State at Streamline Sale Court. The Tigers fell short in the season-opener to Saint Leo 80-64 Friday afternoon in Dade City, Fla.
  Read Full Article