Florida State closed its non-conference home schedule with a win on Monday, but in less than impressive fashion as FSU defeated Charleston Southern 75-64 to earn its fifth straight victory.
Dwayne Bacon led the Seminoles (9-2) in scoring for a third straight game, finishing with 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Fellow freshman Malik Beasley added 16 points and Jarquez Smith finished with 12 points off the Seminole bench on 5-for-7 shooting.
33 of Charleston Southern’s 64 points came on 3-pointers, but it was a triple by FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes with 1:22 to play in the first half that gave Florida State a 34-31 lead at the break. Consecutive 3-pointers by Armel Potter and Patrick Wallace gave the Buccaneers (4-8) a 37-36 lead early in the second half, but FSU answered with an 8-0 run and never trailed again.
The Seminoles however, were not able to extend their lead to double-digits until the 7:20 mark on a basket from Bacon, which made the score 60-50. From there, Charleston Southern never got closer than seven.
Potter led the Buccaneers with 20 points and 4 assists. Guard Raemond Robinson was the only other Buccaneer in double-figures with 11 points.
Both teams will have more than a week off before closing non-conference play on Dec. 29. Charleston Southern will take on St. Andrews College while FSU will visit rival Florida.
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Featured image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports
