LAKELAND, Fla. – On a day with love in the air, Florida Southern College and Saint Leo University engaged in a double-overtime thriller where the student-athletes displayed their love for the game of men's basketball at George W. Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins came out on top, 110-108, to complete the season sweep of the Lions behind a trio of double-doubles.
"Big time win for us," head coach
Mike Donnelly commented after the team's third overtime of the year. "I am extremely proud of our guys. We battled all night and found a way to grind out a huge win. Unfortunately, someone had to lose that game. Saint Leo played unbelievable. Tonight was a great college basketball game."
Florida Southern (18-7, 12-4 SSC) saw
Akol Arop and
Luke Anderson go toe-to-toe for the team lead in scoring as both forwards posted double-doubles with 30-plus points and 12 rebounds. Akol, a graduate student from Omaha, Neb., notched a career-high 37 points, which was also the game-high, with his 12 boards while adding two blocks and one steal on the night.
Anderson, a redshirt junior from Lakeland, Fla., scored 32 points besting his previous career-high of 31 points from earlier this season. He too added 12 boards while tallying three blocks, one steal, and four assists.
Dominick Denny, a redshirt junior from Coral Springs, Fla., joined in the double-double fun with 15 points and 12 assists for the Moccasins.
Connor Raines added 15 points to the scoreboard as
Erickson Bans chipped in with five,
Joe Moon IV four, and
Trey Jones two.
Saint Leo (9-14, 4-11 SSC) was led by Kanon Koster who tallied 34 points in the double-overtime contest, highlighted by a three at the end of regulation to draw the game to a tie before hitting a hurried quick three in the corner at the buzzer of the first overtime period, to send the game to its second overtime. Four others tallied double-figures with Logan Ryan at 18, Joseph Locandro at 15, Grant Disken at 13, and Cantia Rahming at 11.
As a team, the Moccasins, and Lions each shot 50.6-percent from the field (40-79). The difference came at the three-point range where Saint Leo drained 15-of-30 (50%) to Florida Southern's 9-of-30 (30%). The Lions only had 13 made free throws of 17 chances where the Moccasins converted 21-for-22 for a 95.5-percent night at the line.
Florida Southern had back-to-back quarters of 41 points where Saint Leo overcame the two-point gap at halftime with a 43-point second half to tie things up at 82.
The Mocs started the game off with
Luke Anderson finding
Connor Raines for a three. Florida Southern would play with a lead for a majority of the first half and climb out to a 12-point lead (29-17) at 8:29. Over the final eight minutes of the first half, Saint Leo climbed to within single digits as Logan Ryan drained a three with nine seconds to play in the half. The Mocs went into the break leading 41-39.
A quick four-minute burst saw Florida Southern climb to a 10-point lead, 51-41. Saint Leo used a 14-4 run to tie things at 55 all with 12:55 to go. The Lions first, and short-lived lead, came on a Cantia Rahming jumper at the 11:22 mark (59-57) before seven points from Anderson and a layup from
Dominick Denny made it a five-point favor for the Mocs (64-59). Two threes down the stretch for Saint Leo tied things at 82 with a minute to play. Florida Southern saw a quick attempt at the lead rim out as the Lions had three missed opportunities to win the game in regulation.
In the first overtime period, Florida Southern climbed out to a five-point lead (89-84) with 1:47 to play. Leading by three (91-88) with under four seconds to play, Saint Leo chucked the ball full court as it bounced to the corner where Koster snagged it and quickly chucked up a three draining it and tying the game at 91.
The Lions would use the momentum in the second overtime and play from in front for the first two minutes before an Anderson three pushed Florida Southern in front briefly (98-96). A quick steal by the Lions' Jeremy Sanchez gave the visiting fans a glimpse of hope for the road win but insert the Mocs'
Akol Arop.
Arop would make the Moccasins next eight points to keep the home fans engaged in the game with 30 seconds to play and Florida Southern leading 106-102. An old-fashioned three-point play and a corner three from Koster pushed the game even (108-108) before Anderson stepped to the line and knocked down the game-winning free throws to make the score its eventual final, 110-108.
Saint Leo had one final attempt as the referees reviewed the foul on Anderson and put 1.2 seconds on the clock. A heave down the court, Florida Southern's Arop batted the ball away from Koster for a quick sigh of relief until the ball fell to the hands of Joseph Locandro. The desperation attempt in a split second and a bit out of his range fell short as Florida Southern escaped with the two-point victory.
Florida Southern will hit the road for a trip to Boca Raton for a matchup with Lynn (14-7, 9-6 SSC) at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17 at the de Hoernle Sports and Cultural Center.
