Seawolves fall to #15 Mocs in 2025-26 opener

Lakeland, Florida (Nov. 1) - Senior transfer Akok Machar showed his all-around skills with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the UAA men's basketball team opened the season Saturday with an 88-76 loss to No. 15 Florida Southern in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at Jenkins Field House.

The Seawolves also got 15 points from fellow newcomer Cole Johnson and 13 points from veteran senior wing Hasaan Herrington, but were hurt by 19 turnovers against the hosts' constant full-court pressure.

The Mocs - coming off a 26-win season and picked second in the Sunshine State Conference poll - were led by 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from guard Elijah Walsh.

"We battled against a lot of adversity and will learn a lot from this game," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "We did some good things, but we struggled against their pressure."

Picked sixth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference poll, the new-look Seawolves went back and forth with the Mocs for the opening 20 minutes. Junior guard Zach Ibbetson nailed consecutive three-pointers midway through the half to give UAA a 26-22 edge before Florida Southern answered with a 17-5 surge.

Despite the 39-31 deficit, the Seawolves rallied within 42-41 at halftime on Johnson's buzzer-beating three, and grabbed the lead on baskets by Machar and Johnson to open the second stanza.

The Mocs took over for the next seven minutes, however, going on a 21-2 run sparked by a pair of buckets from Jasir Tremble (19 pts).

UAA showed its toughness with eight straight points from four different players to slice it to 65-55, but could get no closer.

Machar - a senior guard who transferred from fellow D-II program Texas-Tyler - finished 5 of 14 from the floor and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Preseason All-GNAC forward Bishop Tosi had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and no turnovers, but UAA was hurt by the injury loss of fellow frontcourt starter Sylas Williams (6 pts, one rebound, one steal in nine minutes).

"Unfortunately we are not healthy, so we had to play quite a few guys out of position," Osborne added. "Jesse Stines has been hurt and not practicing for two weeks, so when Sylas went down that put us in a bind. Jeremiah Coleman also would have been a huge help but sprained his ankle in our first scrimmage and is out. We will have a huge challenge tomorrow against a very good Daemen squad."

Junior guard Elijah Mobley made his UAA debut with nine points, while senior forward John McFadden provided a lift off the bench with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and no turnovers.

UAA faces No. 4 Daemen in its second and final SCB HOF Classic game at 4 p.m. AST Sunday. Find links to free live video and stats at GoSeawolves.com.