BOCA RATON, Fla. – Graduate student
Jadin Booth dropped a career-high in No. 15 Florida Southern's 94-74 win over Lynn Saturday afternoon at the de Hoernle Sports and Cultural Center.
No. 15 Florida Southern moved to 13-2 overall on the season and sit 4-1 in Sunshine State Conference play after the win. Lynn falls to 8-4 overall and .500 in league play at 3-3.
"Great win!
I'm proud of our guys," head coach Mike Donnelly stated. "I thought we played really hard and with a lot of confidence, which was great to see. I'm very happy for Jadin. He's a special player!"
Jadin Booth, a graduate student out of Omaha, Neb., finally cracked the 40-point plateau and broke his career-high of 39 points, a mark he set in January 2023 at Rollins in an overtime game. The 6-foot-2 guard went 12-for-18 from the field including a 9-for-12 mark from beyond the arc, which tied his career-best performance of nine made three-pointers; also set in the overtime win over Rollins in January 2023.
Booth's 40-point game is the first player for the Moccasins to score 40-plus-points in five years and four weeks, when Brett Hanson scored 42 points against Lindenwood on Dec. 7, 2019. Saturday marked Booth's third 30-plus-point performance on the season posting 37 points against Point Loma (11/3/24) and 38 points against Lander (12/21/24).
Peyton Gerald joined Booth in double-digits with 15 points while
Joe Moon IV and
Alex Steen, too, scored double-figures with 10 points apiece. Steen paced the team in rebounding with a game-high 14 rebounds to complete his double-double as the Moccasins won the rebounding battle 44-to-39.
Dominick Denny and
Amare Miller chipped in eight points in the win while
Ameer Ramadan added three going 1-for-1 in three-point shots as Florida Southern as a team went 13-for-24 (54.2%) from downtown. The Mocs finished the game 34-for-73 (46.6%) from the field and 13-for-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line while notching 10 steals and seven blocks to complete the sweep of all major category wins over the Fighting Knights.
Lynn saw Carson Smith lead the way in scoring with 21 points while Braydon Luli added 18 and Leo Beath at 11 points. The Fighting Knights shot 29-for-71 (40.8%) from the field and just 8-for-25 (32%) from beyond the arc while missing just two shots at the charity stripe, 8-for-11 (72.7%).
Lynn and Florida Southern opened the game with a tight first 8:10, leaving the game to a one-possession game to the 11:50 mark before the Moccasins opened to a four-point lead on a
Jadin Booth three-pointer, 18-14. A 7-0 run for the Fighting Knights flipped the lead to three for the home team, 21-18, with 9:07 to play in the first half.
Lynn held the lead up to the 5:42 mark when
Joe Moon IV hit two free throws to push the Mocs back in front, 29-28. The Fighting Knights took a quick lead back, but it was the Moccasins who rallied and extended to the largest lead of the half of nine, 42-33, with 2:24 on the clock from back-to-back threes from
Ameer Ramadan and
Jadin Booth and a dunk from
Alex Steen. The Mocs carried a 48-42 lead into the break.
On the opening possession of the second half, Lynn scored to make it 48-44, before
Peyton Gerald's old-fashioned three-point play at the 16:06 mark pushed the game to 10 points, 60-50, but the Fighting Knights fought to get back within four again, 70-66, with 9:50 to play. This would be the closest the Knights would get for the remainder of the contest.
The Mocs pushed the tempo on offense and defense and made it a 10-point difference again, 78-68, and again at 80-70 before Booth's three pushed it to 13 points, 83-70 with 3:15 to play. Five straight buckets for Florida Southern blew the contest open with a 21-point game, 91-70. Lynn would go two-for-one down in the final minute as the Moccasins departed Boca Raton with a 20-point win, 94-74.
No. 15 Florida Southern returns home to the Jenkins Field House for the first time in 2025 as the Moccasins host the Embry-Riddle Eagles on Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
