Florida Southern saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday at Rollins, but the Moccasins hope to start another one this Wednesday when they make the short trip to Saint Leo University to face the Lions. Now locked in a three-way tie with Tampa and Lynn for first place in the Sunshine State Conference, it's a crucial game for the Moccasins, who host each of the other SSC co-leaders in their next two games.
Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #15, John Thompson (13.6 ppg., 8.0 rebs., .555 fg%)
F, #32, A.J. Hawkins (7.8 ppg. 4.3 rebs., .662 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (13.4 pts., 5.3 rebs., 4.9 asts., .525 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (14.5 pts., 3.0 rebs., 3.2 asts., .482 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (17.6 pts., 2.9 rebs., 5.7 asts., .444 3-pt.%)
Saint Leo Probable Starters:
F, #1, Josue Vazquez (6.5 pts., 4.7 rebs.)
F, #20, Jordan Prais (20.9 pts., 9.2 rebs., .569 fg%)
C, #42, Eric Sharper (2.4 pts., 3.3 rebs., .667 fg%)
G, #5, Jeremy Jackson (11.5 pts., 3.2 rebs., 1.6 steals)
G, #11, Dominick Robinson (6.7 pts., 2.0 rebs., 2.1 asts.)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern leads the all-time series with Saint Leo, 79-11, and the Moccasins have won the last five meetings. Both of last year's games were tight, as the Lions missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 79-76 Moccasin win at Saint Leo, and another game-tying 3-point attempt with four seconds left in an 87-82 Moccasin win at Jenkins Field House.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... Florida Southern (13-1 overall and 3-1 in the SSC) may have suffered its first loss of the season in its last game, but the Moccasins had few problems scoring and continue to be among the top 3-point shooting teams in the country. The 88 points scored at Rollins were right about the season average for the Moccasins (87.8), as they went 18-for-35 from behind the arc while erasing an 18-point deficit. It was the second time this year Florida Southern made more than 15, and their long-range shooting percentage of .464 is now the best in all of Division II. Terry Jenkins is the main culprit after going nine-for-14 with a career-high 31 points against Rollins. His .482 individual percentage is 13th in Division II, and his brother Brandon Jenkins is even better at .525. Brandon, however, is just short of the number of 3-pointers made to qualify for the national leaders. Meanwhile, Rion Rayfield had his third straight 20-point game, and his fifth in the last six games, and A.J. Hawkins is coming off a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds against the Tars. With Saturday's game revolving around the outside shooters, John Thompson didn't have many opportunities to score, but he did have a career-high five assists and his 11 rebounds were only one off his best game of the season. He's still second on the team with three 20-point games, and has twice scored 19.
ABOUT SAINT LEO... Saint Leo (6-10 overall, 1-3 in the SSC) is coming off its first conference win of the season, defeating Florida Tech 70-63 on Saturday. The Lions have already played the other two SSC co-leaders, and had a chance to win both games before losing to Lynn, 75-73, and to Tampa, 64-59. In fact, though Saint Leo has lost six of its last seven games, only one of those losses was by more than six points and the Lions are actually out-scoring their opponents for the season. Free throw shooting has been a big part of the problem; though Saint Leo has gone to the line more times than any team in the SSC but Florida Tech (an average of more than 25 per game), the Lions rank last in the league with a .634 free throw percentage. One player the Moccasins will definitely be keeping an eye on is senior forward Jordan Prais, a graduate of Lakeland High School who was the 2007 SSC Freshman-of-the-Year before making the All-SSC Team in both 2008 and 2009. Having scored over 1,600 points in his career, Prais is second in the SSC this year with a 20.9 scoring average and is also second in rebounding with 9.2 per game. Jeremy Jackson is the only other Lion scoring in double figures, and his 11.5 average makes him one of the league's top newcomers. Saint Leo's starting lineup has been rather fluid. Prais is the only player to start all 16 games, and Daniel Oliver, who's averaging 6.7 points and 3.3 assists, is the only other player to start more than nine.
