BOCA RATON, Fla. – Lynn University's men's basketball team fell 79-69 in a rematch against Florida Southern on Saturday night. Chris Hall and Chris Watson shared the team lead in scoring with 12 points as the Fighting Knights dropped to 5-17 overall and 3-9 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Good paint play early on helped the Blue & White capture the lead. Cameron McCallum, Jimmy Gaskins and Hall each found baskets underneath the basket as LU built a 9-4 advantage. A resounding dunk by Watson midway in the period appeared to give momentum to Lynn as it increased its lead to 15-11.
Florida Southern (18-6, 9-3 SSC) found its shooting touch around the nine minute mark with Cameron Wooten knocking down a three-pointer from the right wing and Brett Bailey adding a lay-up to put the Mocs up 18-15. Lynn would go on to tie the game twice more, including a lay-up by McCallum, but an 8-0 by FSC gave the Mocs wind in their sails going into the break.
Rion Rayfield heated up in the second half, scoring 23 of his game-high 30 points within the first 10 minutes of play. Rayfield hit seven threes in a seven minute span as Florida Southern went from being up 40-34 to on top 68-43.
A collective effort by the Knights' team got them back to within 12 before Hall and Watson scored the team's final 10 points. The comeback attempt fell just short when the Moccasins were able to grab a pair of offensive rebounds with under two to go.
Lynn shot 41.7% from the field while Florida Southern knocked down 51.9% of its attempts.
The Blue & White return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m. when they host Florida Tech. Fans can follow the action live by logging on to www.LynnFightingKnights and selecting "Game Central."
