FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Montevallo men's basketball is moving on to the NCAA South Region Tournament Semifinal after an 88-81 win over No. 4 seed Florida Southern on Saturday night.
 
Florida Southern broke the ice with a three to start before Derek Moore, Jaylen Curry and Tyson Sexton nailed three Falcons triples to go up 9-6 after the first two minutes. Bryant James scored five straight for the Falcons to give Montevallo an eight-point lead at the 16:22 mark. Florida Southern battled back to make the score 16-14 with an 8-2 run before a Curry slam ended the stretch. A trio of free throws from Brandon Fussell put the Falcons back up by nine at the 12:32 mark. The two sides went scoreless for two minutes before Moore ended the stretch with a finish at the rim. FSC used a 7-2 run to cut Montevallo's lead down to 32-28 before a Fussell triple ended the skid for Montevallo. The Mocs then tied the game at 37-37 with 3:31 left in the first half. The Falcons used a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 46-39 lead before FSC cut the lead to four heading into the break.
 
Another 7-2 Montevallo run out of the half stretched Montevallo's lead to 53-46 capped by a James triple at the 15:08 mark. Sam Duskin knocked down his first three of the half to keep the Falcons up by five before Curry pushed the lead out to 58-51 with 12:33 on the clock. The Mocs cut the lead back down to one a few minutes later before to leave Montevallo with a 58-57 lead at the 10:28 mark. Florida Southern kept it close for the next three minutes before Curry knocked down back-to-back triples to give Montevallo a 75-68 lead with 6:19 to play. A 10-2 Falcon run with buckets from Moore, Sexton and Fussell gave Montevallo its largest lead of the game at 85-72 with just 2:18 to play. Florida Southern trimmed the lead down to six with a 7-0 run before three free throws in the final minute sealed Montevallo's opening round win over No. 4 seed Florida Southern.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 5 Montevallo 88 | No. 4 Florida Southern 81
Records: No. 5 Montevallo 22-8 (17-5 GSC) | No. 4 Florida Southern 22-11 (13-7 GSC)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
 
GAME NOTES

• The Falcons shot a blistering 50.8 percent from the floor while adding a 44.0-percent mark from deep while FSC posted a 43.7-percent clip and a 31.7-percent mark from deep.
• Florida Southern held a slim 42-37 lead on the glass with a 17-12 lead in offensive rebounds.
• Montevallo controlled the paint with a 42-34 lead in points inside while adding 19 points off 14 Mocs turnovers.
• Derek Moore led the team with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting while adding four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
• Brandon Fussell posted 17 points while adding seven assists, three steals and three rebounds.
• Jaylen Curry finished with 15 points and four boards while Sam Duskin tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.
• Tyson Sexton led Montevallo with four offensive boards with a total of eight rebounds while adding 11 points.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo takes on top seed and host Nova Southern on Sunday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the regional semifinals.