Lawrence, Kan.— Spire basketball fell to Florida College 89-63 on Friday, November 6, in Lawrence, Kansas at the Ernie Stevens Classic as an 8-0 run to open the second half helped Florida College pull away.

Joe Clark's layup gave the Spires an 8-6 lead with 16:35 remaining in the first half. Carsten Seitz later hit a 3-pointer off Hassan Flemming's assist to bring USM within 21-15, but the Falcons stretched its advantage to 31-17 with 5:32 left. Clark began the response with a layup, and Preston Ross followed with a dunk after a Florida College turnover to cut the deficit to 10.

The Spires continued to chip away before halftime. Adam Tanner made both free throws with 3:12 remaining to bring the Spires within 33-25, and Flemming made 2-of-2 at the line to trim the margin to 38-31 at 1:43. Zach Hayslett's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left sent Saint Mary into the break trailing 41-34, having cut a 14-point deficit in half.

Wall made two 3-pointers during FC's eight unanswered points to start the second half, pushing the score to 49-34. Tanner ended that run with a 3-pointer off Hayslett's assist. Clark added a dunk following a Gilmore turnover, and Hayslett made two free throws with 14:36 remaining to pull USM within 55-46. Florida College answered with Wall's layup and Correa's three-point play before Seitz connected on another 3-pointer.

After Clark's layup made it 63-51 with 12:28 left, Florida College scored seven straight points, capped by Wall's layup at 10:47. Tanner cut the deficit to 70-55 with 8:52 remaining, but the Spires got no closer. Connor Rabbitt hit a 3-pointer off Ross' assist with 2:17 left for the Spires final points of the night. Ceynowa's layup with 22 seconds remaining completed the scoring for the Falcons.

Tanner and Clark led the Spires with 16 points apiece. Tanner contributed three assists and made 7-of-8 free throws, while Clark shot 7-of-12 and collected six rebounds. Hayslett finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists. Flemming scored eight points, Seitz added six on two 3-pointers and Ross contributed three rebounds. Martinez paced Florida College with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Wall and Massaquoi each scored 16.

The Spires committed only 11 turnovers to Florida College's 17 and made 16-of-18 free throws, but shooting and rebounding proved costly. The Spires shot 21-of-64 from the field, 32.8%, and 5-of-27 from 3-point range, 18.5%. Florida College shot 53% overall and 37.5% from beyond the arc. USM was outscored 44-30 in the paint and 22-7 in second-chance points as Florida College held a 39-19 rebounding advantage.
 
Coming Up…

The Spires will quickly regroup and get right back to action tomorrow afternoon on day two of the Ernie Stevens Classic hosted by Haskell. USM will tip-off against Arkansas Baptist at 1 p.m. in the Coffin Sports Center.