Seminoles open with close preseason win
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Florida State's preseason opener completed with an expected Seminole win, but the game wasn't without some semi-tense closing moments. In the final 90 seconds, visiting Lincoln Memorial whittled the lead down to four points, but the 'Noles pulled away to earn an 83-75 victory.
"Defensively is obviously where we need to come (along) the fastest," said head coach Leonard Hamilton. "But I'm confident that we're going to do that."
Junior Okaro White led Florida State with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. Of the 11 Seminoles who saw time on the court, four - White, Michael Snaer (12), Aaron Thomas (12) and Terry Whisnant (11) - finished with double-digit point totals.
"I'm pretty confident in my shot this season," said White. "I worked really hard over the summer, so I felt pretty good."
Coach Hamilton implemented a plethora of five-man rotations, alternating 11 players in bigger and smaller groupings. The Seminole defense allowed field goal rates uncharacteristic to the past few years, with Lincoln Memorial shooting 52.5-percent from the field.
Florida State registered a healthy night shooting the ball in its own right, finishing 29-of-52 from the field (55.8-percent) and 8-of-19 from long range. The Seminoles also hit 17 free throws in 21 attempts.
"I didn't see anything that we already didn't know," Hamilton said. "We played an awful lot of people; it's kind of hard to get in a rhythm… I saw an awful lot of things I liked from a potential standpoint."
Freshman guard Devon Bookert did not participate in the game, with coach Hamilton saying Bookert scraped his knee in a sensitive area.
The 'Noles move on to their second and final preseason game when they face Saint Leo Monday, November 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The regular season opener is a week from Friday against South Alabama.