Florida Southern completes a stretch of five games in 11 days when it takes the court Tuesday night against Armstrong Atlantic State University. Tip-off at Jenkins Field House is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Moccasins will be looking to finish the first month of the season on a high note after splitting two games over Thanksgiving weekend in their own tournament, and hand the Pirates their first loss of the year.
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #21, Preston Fredrick (6.7 ppg., 3.3 rebs.)
F, #32, Andre Hawkins (5.8 ppg. 4.0 rebs., .867 ft%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (14.7 pts., 5.5 rebs., 4.8 asts., .483 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (11.3 pts., 2.0 rebs., 5.3 asts., 2.2 steals)
G, #22, Damon Ellison (14.3 pts., 4.3 rebs., 2.0 asts.)
Armstrong Atlantic State Probable Starters:
F, #2, Jesse Wheeler (10.3 pts., 5.7 rebs., 3.0 asts.)
F, #14, Brett Goodwell (14.0 pts., 7.0 rebs., 3.7 asts.)
G, #1, Austin Edens (4.3 pts., 1.3 reb., 5.7 asts.)
G, #5, Grant Domsic (18.0 pts., 4.3 rebs., .615 3-pt.%)
G, #34, Chris Edwards (15.7 pts., 3.7 rebs., .474 3-pt.%)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern is 6-2 all-time against Armstrong Atlantic and has won two-of-three under Linc Darner. The teams split two games during the 2006-07 season, and the Moccasins won last year in Savannah, 80-70. Brandon Jenkins scored 26 for the Moccasins, and Rion Rayfield had 15 points and nine assists.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins are 3-3 this year, having split two games in Valdosta to start the year, splitting their first two home games, and splitting two games in the Holiday Inn-South/Ledger Classic over the weekend. The Moccasins got 20-point games from Damon Ellison and Rion Rayfield in the tournament, while Brandon Jenkins scored a total of 33 points. The Mocs have been one of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams over the last three years, but were not at their best in those two games, making 14-of-44 shots from long range (a .313 percentage) after going 31-for-70 (.443) in their first four. The Mocs are still shooting 47 percent overall though, and their .771 free throw percentage is second in the Sunshine State Conference, with four different players over 80 percent from the line. The Mocs also have Terry Jenkins back after the fifth-year senior missed two games with an arm injury, and Brett Bailey has stepped into a bigger role in recent games too, averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in the team's three games last week.
ABOUT ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC... The 3-0 Pirates have an almost entirely new team from the one Florida Southern faced a year ago, with only one returning player in junior Chris Vanlandingham. They've added five transfers from other 4-year schools, four junior college transfers and two freshmen, with another player returning to the active roster after redshirting last year. Of those transfers, three are from Newberry College where they played for current AASU coach Jeremy Luther, and all of them averaged double figure points in their final season there. One of them, Grant Domsic, is a Florida native who is leading the Pirates in scoring this year with 18.0 points per game while going 16-for-26 on 3-pointers. Their second leading scorer, Chris Edwards, is a Division I transfer from Jacksonville, while the other two Newberry transfers, Brett Goodwell and Jesse Wheeler are also averaging more than 10.0 points per game. Among the Pirates' early-season victories is a 94-74 win at Valdosta State, the defending South Region champions. That came in their most recent game on November 21.
