Lakeland, FL . – The Post University men's basketball team made a statement on the national stage, upsetting No. 16 Florida Southern, 87-83 during the 2022 Mocs Christmas Classic on Saturday evening.
Five Eagles scored in double figures, with
Tyler Small leading the way with 19 points.
Isaiah Holmes had 16 points with six rebounds and six assists.
Harrison Warnock had 15 points and seven rebounds.
The two teams played a tightly-contested and back and forth first half with the Eagles taking an 11-6 lead after a three from Small and a layup from
Collins Onyeike.
The Mocs battled back, taking a 20-18 lead after scoring seven straight points, the last two coming from Tray Alexander. The Eagles responded with the next ten points, and taking their biggest lead of the half at 28-20 as Onyeike had four points and
David Jasson had three during the run.
Once again, the Mocs responded, taking a 31-30 lead on a layup from Trey Jones before a layup from
Harrison Warnock on the next possession. Post went back up by seven at 38-31, but the Mocs scored the final seven points of the half and both teams were scoreless for the final 1:55 as the teams went into the locker rooms tied, 38-38.
The Eagles jumped out the gate in the second half, scoring the first seven, including a three from
D.J. Frechette to kick things off and capped by a layup from Abdul-Basit Ajia making it a 45-38 game.
The Mocs kept rallying cutting the deficit back to three on a jumper from E.J. Dambreville to make it a 51-48 Post lead.
Post would get some breathing room, taking a 63-53 lead with 10:37 as threes from Ajia and Frechette helped the Eagles get their biggest lead of the game.
The Mocs cut the score to 77-76 with 2:25 left, but Holmes responded with a jumper off of a steal to put the Eagles up three, following with a defensive rebound and layup to put Post up 81-76 with 1:30 left.
Florida Southern cut the game to 81-79 on a three from Jadin Booth, but a Frechette jumper made it a two-possession game again in the Eagles' favor with 48 seconds left. The Mocs cut the lead to two points two more times, but Ajia and Small hit the final four free throws for the Eagles to close out the win.
Onyeike finished with 12 points. Ajia had nine points and seven rebounds. Frechette finished with 11 points and three rebounds.
Post (6-5) won the rebounding battle, 44-30, including 19 offensive rebounds that turned into 18 second-chance points.
The Eagles forced 12 turnovers, turning them into 27 points.
Luke Anderson finished with a team-high 20 points for Florida Southern (8-2). Dambreville had 16 points and nine rebounds and Wes Bongiorni had 16 points.
The Eagles finish up their weekend in Florida with a matchup against Barry at 5:30 p.m. at Florida Southern.
