LAKELAND, Fla. – Leading by one with 35 seconds to play, No. 23 Florida Southern's
Peyton Gerald blocked a Lynn layup moments before
Jadin Booth picked the pocket up by three to seal the game with free throws. The second-seeded Moccasins defeated the third-seeded Fighting Knights 88-83 at the Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House to advance to the Sunshine State Conference Championships.
"Tonight was a hard fought game," said head coach
Mike Donnelly. "I am really proud that we were able to find a way to pull out a big win and advance to the SSC Championship game on Sunday. I know our guys are excited to play for a championship."
Florida Southern (25-7) used a 7-0 run from the free throw line to close.
Dominick Denny tied the game with 1:21 to go at the free throw line before
Alex Steen scored the go-ahead point with 51 seconds to go.
Jadin Booth sealed the game with four straight free throws after Gerald's block and his steal at the 16-second mark. The Fighting Knights had a look at a three, but the miss fell to the hands of Gerald who tossed the ball full court as time expired.
Jadin Booth led the team in scoring with a team-high 25 points as
Peyton Gerald notched 14 points.
Dominick Denny and
Alex Steen tied for 12 points with
Joe Moon IV adding 11. Steen, the two-time SSC Defensive Player of the Year, notched a double-double with 16 total rebounds, 11 on the defensive end. He fell one block shy of Gerald's game-high four, as the duo owned the game's only blocks (7).
Lynn's (20-8) Leo Beath and Carson Smith were the only ones firing on all cylinders as Beath went for 31 and Smith 27.
Florida Southern won the opening tip but would play from behind the entire first half, with its largest deficit of 12 points coming at the 6:07 mark. The Mocs would chip away and get within striking distance but close the half down by just one, 46-45.
Peyton Gerald hit a quick jumper two minutes into the second half for a Moccasin lead, but Carson Smith tied it with a three, 49-49. Florida Southern captured the lead with 17:27 to play and held it until the 6:47 mark when Leo Beath hit a layup to start the back-and-forth final minutes.
Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead for five of the final six minutes. Gerald's block and Booth's steal on Lynn's two attempts to take the lead or tie it allowed for the Mocs to push ahead by five, 88-83. The Fighting Knights' final three missed the mark as the horn sounded with the ball in the Moccasins' possession.
The No. 23 Florida Southern Moccasins will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to tussle with the No. 2 Nova Southeastern Sharks at 1 p.m. inside the Rick Case Arena. The game will feature five All-Sunshine State Conference student-athletes including the 2024-25 SSC Player of the Year, MJ Iraldi (NSU), and the 2024-25 SSC Defensive Player of the Year,
Alex Steen (FSC).
Following the conclusion of Sunday's SSC Championship game, the NCAA selection show for the NCAA DII National Tournament is set for 11 p.m. on
www.NCAA.com.
