LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball, who received votes in the latest NABC top-25 coaches' poll, locked in the no. 2 seed in the upcoming Sunshine State Conference tournament with a 106-84 win over the Rollins College Tars Wednesday night on senior night. The Moccasins defeated the Tars and completed the season sweep and finish the regular season with a 21-8 overall record and a 15-5 mark in league play.
"Great win for us on senior night," head coach
Mike Donnelly said. "Despite all the setbacks with injuries, it has been a fun year."
Donnelly went on to add, "I am proud of our guys and very happy with our effort this evening. It was great having both Alex and Erickson back in the lineup. I thought they both provided a huge spark for us in limited action. Excited to start postseason play next week."
Florida Southern recognized nine players –
Akol Arop,
Dominick Denny,
Jadin Booth,
Wes Bongiorni,
Noah Louis,
Connor Raines,
Conor O'Connell,
Trey Jones, and
Luke Anderson - and the lead student assistant
Reagan Orr prior to the game.
In the game, all six eligible to play scored paced by
Luke Anderson's 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Trey Jones finished with 15 points in 15 minutes of action while
Connor Raines was feeling it from range with 14 points, 12 from beyond the arc.
Akol Arop added 11 points, ahead of
Dominick Denny's five points and
Conor O'Connell's four points.
In his first game back,
Alex Steen nearly notched a double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds in 11:18 minutes of action.
Erickson Bans tallied 10 points as
Joe Moon IV closed the book for Mocs scoring with four points.
As a team, the Moccasins hauled in 60 rebounds, 25 offensive and 35 defensive compared to the Tars' 35 overall, 10 offensively and 25 defensively. Florida Southern drained 13 three-pointers led by Raines and Anderson with four each while Bans made two, and Arop, Jones, and Denny making the last three.
Rollins (8-18, 5-14 SSC) saw Matheus Silveira lead the way with 23 points ahead of Kyle Marion's 22. Sergey Grishaev chipped in 19 points before fouling out of the contest.
The opening of the game was a close rival matchup the over 600 fans inside the Jenkins Field House were hoping to see. The first possession of the game started with a
Trey Jones interception that led to three missed shots but three offensive rebounds for the Mocs. The final one landed in the hands of
Conor O'Connell who opened the scoring on senior night with a put-back layup.
The Moccasins and Tars traded points and a share of the lead over the opening five minutes before Rollins jumped out to a five-point lead, 19-14 and again 22-17.
Florida Southern used a quick run to tie things at 22 (13:08) and eventually to a six-point lead, 28-22, capped by an
Erickson Bans three pointer at the 11:13 mark. Three free throws from
Alex Steen on multiple trips down the floor allowed Florida Southern to take claim to a 12-point lead, 40-28, before the Mocs cruised to halftime leading by 13, 57-44.
Rollins would battle and get within nine points three times with the last being at the 14:02 mark, 67-58, before Florida Southern turned to a fast pace game plan and quickly pushed it to 20 points to the 9:29 mark.
The Mocs eventually notched their largest lead of the game of 30 points on a
Trey Jones layup, 102-72 (3:45).
Conor O'Connell, like he started the game, closed the scoring for Florida Southern with a pull up jumper at the 2:03 mark (106-78). Despite going on a 7-0 run to close the game, the deficit was too great for the Tars as the time ran out and the final horn sounded with Florida Southern victorious 106-84.
Florida Southern will be the no. 2 seed in the upcoming Sunshine State Conference tournament and will await the opponent as the Moccasins have a bye on Saturday with the rest of the league in action.
