Southeastern Louisiana managed to stay within striking distance for most of the day at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Sunday, but in the end, Florida State proved to be too much in a 75-58 FSU victory.
Guard Benji Bell paced the Seminoles (6-2) with a career-high 18 points on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 from deep. Leading scorer Malik Beasley added 16 points for FSU in the victory.
Southeastern Louisiana (2-8) led by as many as six early and 14-9 at the game’s second media timeout. The game was tied 21-21 after the Lions’ Mike Hawkins knocked down a 3-pointer with just over six minutes to play, but dunks from Jean Marc Christ Koumadje, Terance Mann and Beasley highlighted an 8-1 FSU run to close the first half and allowed the Seminoles to take a 29-22 lead into the break.
The Seminoles led by double-digits for most of the second half and looked to be pulling away after going up by 17 on a 3-point play by Beasley with just over nine minutes to play, but the Lions responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by triples from Dimi Cook and Daniel Grieves. Grieves cut the FSU lead to 55-48 on a triple with under seven minutes to play, but Bell knocked down back-to-back treys to give FSU the breathing room it needed to cruise to 3-0 at home on the year.
Southeastern Louisiana’s Joshua Filmore led all scorers with 19 points while the Lions’ leading scorer coming in, Zay Jackson, finished with 9.
Bell and Beasley were the only two FSU players to score in double-figures, but Phil Cofer tied a season-high with 9 points. Mann and Rathan-Mayes each scored seven points for Florida State. Mann led FSU with six boards while Rathan-Mayes dished out a game-high 11 assists.
Florida State will remain at home as it takes on Mississippi State on Wednesday. The Lions will stay in Tallahassee as they get set to visit Florida A&M on Tuesday night.
Featured image courtesy of Florida State athletics
