LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 22 Florida Southern College men's basketball team controlled the home court with a 99-76 win against Florida Tech on Saturday night at George W. Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins (9-2, 3-1 SSC) did not trail the entire game, shooting over 50-percent in the conference win. The Panthers (2-6, 0-3 SSC) struggled to keep up with the Moccasin pace, plagued by turnovers in their third SSC loss of the season.
"I was happy with our attention to detail at the defensive end tonight," said head coach
Mike Donnelly. "Florida Tech has really good guards who attack off the dribble and tough shot makers.
Peyton Gerald did a terrific job on his assignments and our other perimeter defenders did the same. Our pressure and speed word them down in the second half."
The Mocs had five with double-digit scoring, led by
Jadin Booth with 20 points.
Alex Steen was right behind with 19 from the field and another 17 points added for Gerald, tying his season best. It was a great day for
Dominick Denny, who had a season-high 14 points and seven assists while tying his season-high of six steals. The final double-digit Moccasin was
Trey Jones who went 4-of-6 from the field for 10 points and five boards.
In a tough game for the Panthers, the Mocs had 24 points off the 20 Tech turnovers, only having nine turnovers themselves. Nearly half of the points for FSC came in the paint, highlighted by a 42-to-38 rebound advantage and 16 second-chance points. The Mocs, leading the nation in blocks per game, continue their defensive dominance with eight blocks and 14 steals as a team.
Florida Tech was led by Donovan Brown with 21 points. Three other Panthers hit double-digits, including a double-double by Elhadji Thiam with 12 points and 12 boards. Florida Tech had more success from behind the arc, hitting five of their attempts, compared to three from FSC.
Florida Southern had the first points on the board and continued success by not relinquishing the lead for the entire first half. Despite some trading of buckets, FSC kept control of the game, including a 6-0 run around the period's halfway point. The Mocs were up by as much as nine before giving up some points for a three-point lead with three minutes left. In the final first half minute, Florida Tech turnovers, back-to-back dunks by Gerald, and a Booth and-one sent FSC into the half with a 42-37 lead.
The Mocs continued the pressure into the second half with a 13-0 run for a 61-47 score with 13 minutes remaining. Bench points from
Hugo Mattioli and fast break scores by
Joe Moon IV helped spark a 17-point lead for the Mocs at the halfway point of the period, 69-52. The entire lineup got involved over the next several minutes to lift FSC to an 86-58 lead with five minutes to go, highlighted by a strong half by Denny. With a comfortable lead, FSC saw action from
Ameer Ramadan, Raphael Tawil, Riley Buccino, and
Luke Reilly off the bench, highlighted by a final-minute dunk by Buccino.
The Mocs will take a trip to Pennsylvania to face Lincoln University on Friday, Dec. 13, set for a 6 p.m. start. The Mocs Christmas Classic will follow on Dec. 21-22, hosting Barry University, Lander University, and the University of New Haven
