Lakeland, Fla. - The University of Findlay men's basketball team came up shy on Saturday, Dec.15, falling in their first of a two-game slate in the state of Florida. The Oilers trailed by one at the half but went cold in the final 20 minutes, losing by a score of 82-60 against Florida Southern College. With the defeat, Findlay falls to 3-6 on the year while the Mocs improve to 8-3.

The Oilers got behind early, trailed 17-8 through just seven minutes, but the visiting team remained unfazed, using a barrage of threes to climb back into the game. Findlay would take a 30-29 lead with 5:21 to play in the first half on a triple by sophomore Jagger Landers. FSC eventually went into the locker room with a one-point lead at 40-39.

Findlay led early in the second half 44-42, but a 15-2 run by the Mocs spelled trouble as the game would play out with a double-digit deficit.

In the first half, the Oilers, which ranked second in the country in three-pointers made per game at 12.4, hit 8-of-18 from deep. The final 20 minutes were not so kind to Findlay which made just 1-of-17 from three-point range down the stretch. At the final buzzer, Findlay had made 24-of-71 from the floor (34%) including just 9-of-35 (26%) from deep, the lowest three-point percentage in a game this season by the Oilers.

Shooting threes was partly a necessity as the Mocs, which lead Division II in blocked shots, were aggressive at the rim, blocking eight shots, the most by an opponent of the Oilers this year.

Findlay was led offensively by sophomore Mason Brandt who scored 12 points on 5-of-9 from the floor while sophomore Kahlil Luster scored 11 on 4-of-7 and had three assists.

Freshman Will Aljancic led the team with nine rebounds while senior Nathan Bruns had seven boards to go along with eight points. Senior Joey Edmonds had four assists.

Findlay will wrap up its' trip south with a game against Barry University tomorrow, Dec. 16 at Florida Southern College. That game will tip at 5:00 pm.