narrow 2-1 favorite, attended the early pace outside horses,

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State will enter Atlantic Coast Conference play off to one of the best starts in school history.The 21st-ranked Seminoles got a career-high 19 points from Terance Mann on Monday as they took control in the second half for a 76-68 victory over Samford.Florida State has won eight straight and is 12-1 for only the third time, matching the 1988-89 and 2008-09 squads.Even though the Seminoles are ranked and off to a strong start, Mann said that might not mean a lot in a couple months unless they can play well in the conference.You cant make the tournament winning 12 games. We know we have to keep winning, Mann said. We havent done anything really in five years. We just got to keep getting better and prove to the world that were here and were good.Mann, whose previous career high was 18 last season against Georgia Tech, is on a roll. The 6-foot-6 sophomore guard is averaging 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in his past three games along with going 17 of 23 from the field.Samford led for most of the final five minutes of the first half before FSU scored the final five points to go up 31-27. Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who scored 15 points, had the key shot with a 3-pointer at the buzzer that bounced in off the rim.The Seminoles scored the first six points to start the second half, pushing the lead to double figures. Florida State led by 17 with 6:12 remaining after a 12-2 run.FSU shot 42.2 percent from the field (27 of 64), which was its second-worst shooting game of the season.Its a learning experience and preparing us for the ACC, Rathan-Mayes said. We did a good job of relying on our defense. I dont think there are too many nights where we are going to struggle like that offensively.Christen Cunningham led the Bulldogs (7-4) with 16 points while Demetrius Denzel-Dyson added 14.We gave ourselves chances but we battled, Samford coach Scott Padgett said. Ive got a play card with 150 plays but I think we ran just one tonight. It was tough to drive inside.BIG PICTURESamford: The Bulldogs are 17-9 in nonconference games over the past two seasons but are 0-2 this season against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 (they lost to Cincinnati 70-55 on Nov. 23). Samford was picked to finish seventh in the Southern Conference but might exceed expectations based on how it has done so far.Florida State: The Seminoles struggled in the first half for the second straight game before pulling away in the second half. If it werent for blowing an 18-point, second-half lead on Nov. 24 against Temple, Florida State would be undefeated going into the Atlantic Coast Conference part of its schedule.HOT IN DECEMBERFlorida State has won 12 straight games in December and 16 of its last 17. It has also won 17 of its last 18 non-conference games in the month.TOUGH DAYEach teams leading player struggled. Florida States Dwayne Bacon, who came into the game averaging 17.2 points, scored 14 but was 4 of 15 from the field.Samfords Wyatt Walker, who is averaging a double-double with 13.7 points and 11.6 rebounds, was held scoreless in the first half. He had eight points and four rebounds.UP NEXTSamford: The Bulldogs host Florida A&M on Thursday. It is the first of two more nonconference games before they open Southern Conference play Dec. 31.Florida State: The Seminoles begin ACC play Dec. 28 against Wake Forest. They are 9-16 in conference openers.---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Joe Reedy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/joereedy Cheap Paul Molitor Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic http://www.cheaptwinsjerseys.com/ .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Cheap Kirby Puckett Jersey . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Cheap Harmon Killebrew Jersey . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. As opposites do attract we are set for a corker of an opener. In his most recent races, Front Pocket Money had come from several lengths off the pace. But on Saturday, in the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes, he took jockey Antonio Gallardo to the lead. Despite being pressured the entire race, he stayed there, too, winning the six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds by three-quarters of a length.Divine Warrior was quickest from the gate in the $100,000 Jersey Shore, but Front Pocket Money moved up to take the lead from his inside before going a furlong. Dogged by Colonel Sharp on the turn, Front Pocket Money began to inch away from that rival in upper stretch, then refused to let Yellow Chips come up inside of him in the final furlong.The win was the third on the afternoon for Gallardo, who is now 6 for 12 in stakes this season at Monmouth. On Tuesday, Gallardo won the 1,000th race of his career while riding at Presque Isle Downs, where he leads the standings.Sometimes you have to go to Plan B, and that was Plan B, Gallardo said about going to the lead with Front Pocket Money. He broke sharp and was comfortable on the lead. I didnt want to fight him.Front Pocket Money is trained by Steve Asmussen, who is scheduled to start Gun Runner in next Sundays Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth. Front Pocket Money paid $6.80 as the second choice in the six-horse field. He was timed in 1:09.93.Front Pocket Money is now 3 for 5 in his career for owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison. The Jersey Shore was his first stakes win.Yellow Chips, the longer-priced of two horses in the race trained by Eddie Plesa Jr., ran very well to finish second. Bumped both sides at the start, Yellow Chips raced welll behind the field early.dddddddddddd. He advanced steadily while saving ground on the far turn, tried to come up inside the winner in the stretch but could gain little ground in the final sixteenth.Colonel Sharp finished third, three-quarters of a length behind Yellow Chips.Plesas other entrant, Full Salute, the narrow 2-1 favorite, attended the early pace outside horses, but dropped back before reaching the far turn and finished fifth.Lamplighter: Longshot Franklin Towers leads throughoutFranklin Towers, by far the longest shot in the five-horse Lamplighter Stakes at 20-1, refused to let 4-5 favorite Noble Quality by in the stretch and hung on by a neck.Franklin Towers set all of the pace in the Lamplighter, a 1-1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds. Rated on the pace to the stretch inside of 7-1 Brass Compass through splits of 23.86, 47.60, and 1:11.89, Franklin Towers put that rival away in upper stretch, then dug in when asked by jockey Nik Juarez to earn the decision.Trained by Jane Cibelli, Franklin Towers paid $42.40 and was timed in 1:40.80. Two starts back he had won a maiden race over the Monmouth turf. In his first try against winners, he finished eighth in a Laurel Park turf allowance.Noble Quality saved ground while racing behind the early leaders. He remained bottled up along the inside on the far turn, came outside the winner in upper stretch but could not get by. It was 2-1/2 lengths back in third to 5-2 second Choice Vulcans Forge, who rallied from last place. ' ' '