THE RUNDOWN
LAKELAND, Fla. – Jonathan Lawton knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining to give Florida Southern an 88-87 win over Midwestern State in Saturday night's finale of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic at George W. Jenkins Fieldhouse.
It was the second of two narrow losses for the Mustangs at the holiday tournament after dropping an 88-84 decision to Saint Leo on Friday.
Midwestern appeared to take control of the game when
Wanaah Bail's slam dunk gave the Mustangs an 81-71 lead with 2:53 to play.
But after Jack Rauch connected on a pair of charity tosses, back-to-back MSU turnovers in the backcourt led to layups by FSC sophomore guard Brett Hanson. The second was a traditional three-point play to pull the Mocs to within three at 81-78 with 2:02 to go.
Florida Southern continued to apply the backcourt pressure forcing a 10-second call before Lawton drilled the Mocs' loan triple of the second half to knot the score at 81-all with 1:45 to go.
Sophomore
Logan Hicks answered with a 3-pointer just 14 seconds later allowing MSU to regain the lead, but Lawton was hit in the act of shooting a 3 on the Mocs' next possession. He hit all three freebies to knot the game for the fourth time at 84-84 with 1:03 to go.
Florida Southern forced yet another turnover in the backcourt which resulted in a put-back layup by Rauch to give the Mocs an 86-84 edged with just 32 seconds to go.
Midwestern wasn't done. Senior guard
Trey Kennedy buried a 3-ball at the top of the key as the Mustangs regained the lead at 87-86 with 21 seconds to play.
Lawton drew a blocking foul on Florida Southern's next possession to earn two free throws with five seconds to go. He drilled both to give the Mocs a one-point edge.
Kennedy drove the floor, but his half-court flail missed at the buzzer.
Midwestern State fell to 2-5 on the season, while Florida Southern improved to 4-2.
NOTES
- Midwestern State shot a season-best 54.2 percent from the field against Florida Southern. It was the Mustangs' fourth straight 50-percent shooting performance.
- The Mustangs shot a season worst 61.5 percent at the charity stripe (16-for-26). This coming off of the heels of a 15-for-16 effort (93.8 percent) Frida versus Saint Leo.
- MSU lost the rebounding battle by a 43-32 count (-11) allowing the Mocs to own a 25-9 edge in second chance points.
- Senior guard
Brandon Neel paced the Mustangs in scoring for the fourth time this season going for 19 points and seven rebounds.
- Junior forward
Wanaah Bail scored a collegiate-best 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in just 14 minutes of floor time.
- Sophomore guard
Logan Hicks has scored in double figures in each of MSU's seven games going for 14 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
- Senior guard
Trey Kennedy fired in five of his eights shots from the arc over the weekend to score 17 against Saint Leos and 14 versus Florida Southern.
- Sophomore guard Brett Hanson connected on 11-of-15 shots to score 25 points, grab seven rebounds and dish out four assists to lead Florida Southern.
Midwestern State and Tarleton State meet in one of the best small college rivaries Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game which starts at 5:30.
– MSUMustangs.com –
