Florida State beats Stetson 63-59

The crowd was non-existent. The play was uninspired. But Florida State did enough not to drop a game to a bad but feisty Stetson team. From the opening tip Florida State couldn't seem to get on the same page offensively or defensively. The players seemed lethargic. The execution was poor. In short, it looked like a Monday afternoon game played on the same day that all the players are leaving town for the holidays.

FSU was never able to open much of a lead in the first half (and actually trailed with about a minute to go), and used a late run to take a four point lead into the break. The second half began with an FSU rally, but Stetson quickly got back into the game and hung close for the next ten minutes. Just before the under-8 timeout, Montay Brandon seemed to come to life, scoring eight straight, giving the Noles enough of a cushion to push through until the end.

The final was 63-59. FSU (7-5) pushed their winning streak to three games.

Montay led all Noles with 17 points, but turned the ball over six times. Xavier Rathan-Mayes once again exhibited stretches of poor decision making from the point guard position, but did finish with 14 points and seven assists, and knocked down a beautiful step-back jumper to ice the game. Devon Bookert made FSU's only two 3-pointers of the game, and finished with eight points. Phil Cofer had seven points and eight rebounds.

Now the team can enjoy a few days off before returning to Tallahassee for a December 30th matchup with the Gators.