Freshmen again were the story for Florida State on Tuesday night as the Seminoles overcame a slow start to top Jacksonville 98-79 at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Thanks to a 10-0 run, the Dolphins (0-2) took an early 19-8 lead. Jacksonville led as late as the under-5 minute mark of the first half and tied the game at 36-36 on a Kori Babineaux layup with 3:34 remaining in the half.
Babineaux finished with a career-high 31 points to keep the game respectable most of the way, but the size and talent of Florida State (2-0) eventually proved to be too much. FSU closed the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 44-38 lead into the locker room.
Freshman Malik Beasley’s 3-pointer with just under 16 minutes to play in the game put the Seminoles up 51-41 and the margin never was never again in single-digits. Florida State led by as many as 21 in the second half as it cruised to victory.
After finishing with 23 points and 8 rebounds in his debut against Nicholls State on Sunday, freshman guard Dwayne Bacon put up even better numbers on Tuesday, finishing with team-highs of 27 points and 9 boards. Beasley scored 21 for the second straight game while 7’3″ senior center Boris Bojanovsky chipped in with 10 points and a game-high 4 blocks. Xavier Rathan-Mayes added 13 points and a game-high 5 assists.
As a team, the Seminoles shot better than 57 percent from the field. Senior Montay Brandon and junior college transfer Benji Bell each scored 5 points in their season-debuts for FSU.
Aiding Babineaux’s scoring efforts for the Dolphins were forwards Marcel White and Darius Dawkins, who each tallied 17 points. White led Jacksonville with 8 rebounds while Dawkins accounted for five of Jacksonville’s nine 3-point makes.
Florida State will leave Tallahassee to play three games in the Virgin Islands, beginning with Hofstra on Friday. The Dolphins will host Florida College in their home opener on Friday.
