LAKELAND, Fla.- The Savannah State men's basketball team opened their 2023-24 season on November 10, 2023 with a 78-63 loss against Florida Southern in a game played at Jenkins Field House.
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The game was a homecoming of sorts for SSU head coach Horace Broadnax who grew up in Plant City which is 13 miles from Lakeland.
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The Moccasins scored the first four points of the contest but a 3-pointer by SSU's
Austin Lewis got them within one at 4-3.
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Down 7-3, a 3-pointer by
Ayjay Plain sliced the Tigers deficit to 7-6. Following a layup by Florida Southern, SSU forward
Qua King drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at nine with 17:24 left in the first period.
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Florida Southern answered with a 15-0 run to go ahead 24-9 at the 9:52 mark. The Moccasins' lead grew to 17 points before SSU was able to get it down to 36-25 with 1:38 left.
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FSC led 40-25 at the half.
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Savannah State (0-1) started the second period with a 12-6 spurt and a jumper by King cut the Mocs lead to 46-37 with 15:34 remaining.
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The Tigers remained in striking distance and with 9:52 left in the game, a layup in the paint by King got SSU within 59-51.
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Florida Southern responded with a 15-3 run that put them ahead by 20 with 3:40 left on the clock.
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SSU could only get as close as 13 the remainder of the game.
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The Tigers scored 14 points off of 13 FSC turnovers and had 14 second chance points in the game. Florida Southern out-rebounded SSU 48 to 32 and outscored Savannah State in the paint 44 to 24.
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Both teams shot well from the field in the second half with FSC shooting 53.6 percent while Savannah State shot 42.9 percent.
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King made 6-of-7 free throw attempts as he finished the game with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Plain was the only other Tiger in double figures with 11 points. He also chipped in 4 assists and 3 rebounds before fouling out. Freshmen
Jordan Mikel and
AuMauri Tillman chipped in 9 points each with Mikel also grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds.
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Florida Southern (3-0) was led by Luke Anderson's 21 points.
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The Tigers will travel to St. Leo on November 11.
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