#23 Mocs Top Tars in SSC Quarterfinals, Advance & Host Lynn in Semifinals

LAKELAND, Fla. – After a tight first half, No. 23 Florida Southern pulled away from Rollins in the Sunshine State Conference quarterfinals Tuesday at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House. The second-seeded Moccasins advanced to the semifinals after knocking off the seventh-seeded Tars 90-69. Florida Southern is set to host the third-seed Lynn Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
"Our defensive execution in the second half was excellent," Head Coach Mike Donnelly commented. "Rollins is a talented offensive team with multiple shot makers, but we did a really good job keeping them in front and forcing them to score over the top tonight."
 
Florida Southern (24-7) was led offensively by a collective unit of Jadin Booth (24 points), Alex Steen (18), Peyton Gerald (16), and Dominick Denny (13). Kristians Feierbergs came off the bench and scored nine points, to lead the bench unit. Steen notched his 16^th double-double with 11 rebounds in 29 minutes of action.  Hugo Mattioli played 20 minutes and had five rebounds, three steals, two assists and three points. Amare Miller also contributed a strong 14 minutes with five rebounds, one assist and two points in the win. 
 
The Moccasins held the Tars to just 32.26% shooting from the field in the second half, holding Rollins to just 29 points. Florida Southern shot 54.05% from the field in the second half with high energy and efficient shots to pull away from Rollins.
 
Donnelly added, "We also received solid production from our bench which was key. Hugo Mattioli and Kristians Feierbergs both had impactful minutes for us, especially in the second half."
 
Rollins (16-14) saw a quartet of double-digit scorers led by Emilis Butkus at 17 points. Beau Frericks followed with 16, while Sergey Grishaev had 15 and John Latimer III had 13.
 
The Tars came to play in the quarterfinals, opening up and taking charge in the first 12 minutes before Florida Southern would be able to capture its first lead, 26-24 on a Dominick Denny jumper. Rollins did not hesitate to get back in front and push it to four points, 33-29, with 4:42 to play but the two teams locked horns and headed into the locker room tied at 40.
 
Florida Southern would fall behind by three after an opening possession three from Rollins, but the Moccasins didn't hesitate to push the tempo and take the lead back at 19:02 with a Peyton Gerald jumper. The turning point from there was intensity as the Mocs were able to extend out to a double-digit lead with 11:15 to play, 61-51, capped by another Gerald jumper. From there, Florida Southern would continue to roll to a 20-point lead, 79-59, thanks to a Kristians Feierbergs three-point play. A corner three from Hugo Mattioli with 3:17 to go gave the Mocs their largest lead of the game, 87-63 (24), before the game came to a close with Florida Southern winning by 21, 90-69.
 
No. 23 Florida Southern will look to keep its season record against Lynn clean as the fourth-seeded Fighting Knights head to Jenkins Field House Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m.
 
 
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