After a week off for Christmas, the Florida Southern Moccasins are back in action when they host the Holiday Inn-South/Ledger Tournament, December 28 and 29. The tournament begins Monday at 5:15 p.m., when Missouri-St. Louis takes on St. Joseph's (IN). Florida Southern and Lake Erie follow that game at 7:30. The consolation and championship games are Tuesday at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. This is the sixth year in a row Florida Southern has hosted a pre-New Year's tournament, but the first time it's been a championship format.
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GAME SPONSORS
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Holiday Inn-South and The Ledger
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CATERING FOR SIXTH MAN CLUB PROVIDED BY
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Mojo's and Sonny's Bar-B-Q
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #15, John Thompson (15.2 ppg., 8.7 rebs., .589 fg%)
F, #32, A.J. Hawkins (5.6 ppg., 4.1 rebs., .645 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (14.3 pts., 5.1 rebs., 4.7 asts., .512 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (14.2 pts., 3.0 rebs., 3.6 asts., .520 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (15.2 pts., 3.1 rebs., 5.0 asts., .411 3-pt.%)
Lake Erie Probable Starters:
F, #21, Joe Roberts (12.1, 6.5 rebs., .583 fg%)
F, #23, Darnell Campbell (9.1 pts., 3.6 rebs., 1.5 steals)
C, #25, Garrick Sims (6.9 pts., 5.1 rebs., .592 fg%)
G, #3, Antonio Kidd (9.1 pts., 2.6 rebs., 3.1 asts.)
G, #11, Ethan Bradshaw (13.0 pts., 2.5 rebs., .745 ft%)
SERIES HISTORY... This is the first meeting between Florida Southern and Lake Erie. The Moccasins have played Missouri-St. Louis twice, winning both games, but the two schools haven't met since November 25, 1986. The Mocs won that game, 86-64, behind 37 points from William Wilcox. The Moccasins also defeated UMSL in 1974, when John Edwards had 22 points and 21 rebounds in a 106-84 victory. Florida Southern and St. Joseph's also have a limited history, with the Moccasins winning the only previous meeting two years ago, 74-65, behind 19 points from Rob Eldridge and 15 from Rion Rayfield.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins finished the first semester with a 9-0 record, the first time in four years they've gone into Christmas break undefeated. Now they're looking to go 10-0 for the ninth time in team history. In each of their last two games, the Mocs had to overcome halftime deficits to win, and were up by only three with less than four minutes to play against Freed-Hardeman. The Mocs finally pulled away by holding the Lions to just three points in the final four minutes. Rion Rayfield scored a season-high 25 points in that game to earn SSC Player-of-the-Week honors and become the third Moccasin this year with a 25-point game. The others are Brandon Jenkins and Terry Jenkins, who each shoot better than 50 percent from 3-point range to rank among the national leaders. Meanwhile, John Thompson has scored 20 or more three times. Thompson battled foul problems against Freed-Hardeman and Florida Southern's season scoring leader was held to just three points, but the Mocs got a huge lift from two other post players, A.J. Hawkins (11 points and seven rebounds) and Preston Fredrick (nine points and eight rebounds). Though neither gets the attention Thompson does, the two sophomores combine to average 11.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
ABOUT LAKE ERIE COLLEGE... Lake Erie, located in Painesville, Ohio, brings a 4-10 record into the tournament, and is in its first year as a full-fledged Division II program. The Storm were previously Division III, and won back-to-back Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championships in 2006 and 2007 before their move. Next year, Lake Erie will join the Great Lakes Collegiate Conference. The Storm have only five players back from last year's team and have played a rugged schedule, with Florida Southern the fifth nationally ranked team they've played. Among their games was an 84-56 loss to defending national champion Findlay. The Storm are averaging 62.6 points per game, and have had nine players start at least three games this season. Ethan Bradshaw, their only returning starter from last year, has been their leading scorer with a 13.0 average and poured in 31 in a recent game at Kentucky Wesleyan. Joe Roberts (12.1 ppg.) is the only other player averaging double figure points, but Darnell Campbell isn't far behind with a 9.1 average and went over 1,000 career points in the team's last game before Christmas break.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS... Missouri-St. Louis started the season 6-0 for the first time in the program's 44-year history, but the Tritons have dropped two of their last three games and are now 7-2. Part of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (in the Western Division), the Tritons are averaging 73.4 points per game, but lost to last year's South Region champion, Christian Brothers, 63-48, in their most recent game. Like Florida Southern, they have four players averaging double figure points, led by their returning scorer from last year, sophomore Beaumont Beasley. He's averaging 18.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists, and also leads the team in 3-pointers with 17. Ryan Lawrence, who missed the Tritons' last game due to injury, averages 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds. Jeremy Brown, the team's only returning starter from last year's 14-13 squad, scores 10.1 points per game. The Tritons also added Central Missouri transfer Zach Redel, a 6-7 center who started for the Mules in 2009, when they went 30-5 and advanced to the national semifinals.
ABOUT ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE... The Pumas have become a familiar sight at Jenkins Field House as they make their third straight appearance in Florida Southern's holiday tournament. They split two games here in 2007, before posting two wins last year, including a 77-66 win over 2nd-ranked South Carolina-Aiken. With Florida Southern ranked #2 this year, the Pumas may get another chance at a major upset in 2009. So far, they've had an up-and-down season, starting 3-0 before losing three straight, then winning their final two games before Christmas break. Their most recent win was a 124-47 blowout of Indiana-Northwest, the largest margin of victory in school history. They also own a 93-67 win over Lake Erie from earlier this season. Averaging 92.6 points per game, St. Joseph's is led by junior college transfer Mark Lake Jr., a 6-0 guard who scores 16.9 points per game. Phillip Collins, an all-conference pick in 2009, is right behind him with a 16.7 average, while shooting 57 percent from the floor, 41 percent from 3-point range, and 78 percent from the line. Austin Peebles, who led the Pumas in scoring last year, has a 10.5 scoring average this year.
