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Florida holds off Florida State

Nov 29, 2010 - 3:56 AM Tallahassee, FL (Sports Network) - Kenny Boynton scored 14 points and Erik Murphy added 10 points and six rebounds as 16th-ranked Florida survived a spirited Florida State comeback attempt with a 55-51 win at the Tucker Center.

Erving Walker chipped in with nine points for the Gators (5-1), who emerged victorious in their first road game of the season.

Michael Snaer made 5-of-6 three-point tries to score a game-high 15 points while Xavier Gibson supplied nine points and five boards for the Seminoles (5-1), who had won each of their first five contests by at least 20 points.

Vernon Macklin's three-point play capped a 12-2 spurt that gave Florida a 17-11 lead with slightly less than nine minutes to go in the first half.

Murphy drained a trifecta with three seconds to go before the break that finished off a 9-2 run to give the Gators a 30-21 edge at the intermission.

Florida State trimmed its deficit to 30-26 before Florida embarked on an 11-2 burst that pushed the lead to a seemingly comfortable 13 with 14 1/2 minutes to play.

However, three triples by Snaer and a dunk by Chris Singleton finished a 15-3 Seminoles surge that trimmed the gap to 44-43 with 7:21 to play in the game.

Two foul shots each by Boynton and Murphy extended the visitors' lead to five with 1:37 left before Snaer drained another three-pointer to make it 53-51 with 51.4 ticks remaining.

Boynton air-balled a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, but Murphy was there to grab it and lay it in with 16 seconds left to account for the final margin. It was Florida's only bucket in the last nine minutes.

Singleton missed a three-pointer on the next possession and Snaer was called for traveling with a handful of seconds to go to end the Seminoles' comeback bid.

Game Notes

The Gators lead the all-time series, 40-22, after their first win in Tallahassee since 2002...Florida is 66-8 in November under head coach Billy Donovan, including 42-4 in the last six seasons...Florida is 117-13 over the last five seasons when holding opponents under 70 points...The Seminoles had won their previous 12 non-conference home games before Sunday...Florida State had won its prior three home dates with the Gators.