NSU Sharks News

Florida Southern Advances to SSC Championship

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Mar. 7, 2009) John Thompson exploded for 19 points and 21 rebounds to lead No. 1 Florida Southern to an 80-59 victory over No. 5 Tampa in Saturday's semifinals of the BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

The tournament is being hosted by Nova Southeastern University at the Arena at the Don Taft University Center.

Thompson led a quartet of Florida Southern (26-6) double-figure scorers. Rob Eldridge tallied 16 points, while Terry Jenkins and Rion Rayfield chipped in 11 each.

Johnathan Ball led Tampa (16-12) with 18 points. Rashad Callaway recorded 12 points, and Anthony LaBruno contributed 10.

Much of the first half of the contest was nip-and-tug, with neither team building a significant lead until FSC took a 22-15 lead with 6:51 remaining in the period. The lead grew to as many as 14, and the Moccasins carried a 38-19 advantage into the intermission.

The second half was all Mocs, with the advantage growing to a game-high 25 (76-51) with just over five minutes remaining in the game. The Spartans would get no closer than 19 down the stretch.

"We fought hard, but we just weren't making shots," Tampa Coach Richard Schmidt said. "We took some bad shots to try to make things happen."

Led by Thompson's board work, the Moccasins out-rebounded the Spartans by a 35-19 margin.

"Our perimeter guys got it done in the first half, and when JT (Thompson) started making baskets in the second half, it made it easier for us to dominate," FSC Coach Linc Darner said. "John Thompson played unbelievable.

He was great tonight, and was a big key to the win."

"I knew if I kept playing hard, the baskets would fall," Thompson said. "I just wanted to grab as many rebounds as possible."

Florida Southern awaits its opponent for Sunday's final. The Mocs will face the winner of the other semifinal between No. 2 Rollins and No. 3 Nova Southeastern. The semifinal winners will square off at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Tom Klusman quotes&

"We executed very well tonight and I couldn't be happier for our guys to be playing in tomorrow's championship game. We shot very well the entire night and the defense was great. Nova is a very dangerous team from outside and we did what we had to do to win the game."

"Nick (Wolf) and Zach (Pancratz) both had great games tonight and led us on the stat sheet, but it really was a complete team victory. Every guy we ran in and out of the game did their job and did it well. Craig (Reichel) stepped up and hit some big shots in the first half and had some key blocks and took a charge in the second that kept the momentum in our favor."

"Tomorrow is going to a great game and we are going to go at Florida Southern with everything we have. They are very athletic and very well coached, so we will see what happens."

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