Florida State pulls away late for NIT opening-round win

Mar 15, 2016, 09:52 pm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Dwayne Bacon scored 23, Malik Beasley added 21 points and the two freshmen led Florida State to a 84-74 victory over Davidson in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday night.

Beasley was 3 of 3 from 3-point range -- as FSU went 3 of 13 -- and Bacon hit 9 of 10 free-throw attempts.

Florida State led 30-26 at the break, but opened the second half on an 11-6 run for a 41-32 lead. The Seminoles were getting easy baskets inside off of offensive rebounds while Davidson started 2 of 6 from 3-point range.

Davidson pulled to 65-57 with 5:37 left but FSU answered with six quick points, highlighted by Beasley's fast-break dunk.

The Seminoles (20-13) outscored Davidson 48-24 in the paint and had a 44-28 advantage on the boards. Davidson made 13 of 33 3-pointers and was 13 of 29 from inside the arc.

The nation's fifth leading scorer, Jack Gibbs, was held to 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting for Davidson (20-13). He entered averaging 23.7.

Florida State played in the NIT for the third time in four years after a school record four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-12.