Moccasins Return, Host Florida Tech to Start the New Year

Back from a 2-week hiatus for the Christmas holidays, the Florida Southern Moccasins hope to pick up where they left off when they host the Florida Tech Panthers, Sunday afternoon at 4:00. It will be the first Sunshine State Conference game of the season for Florida Southern, which ended the first semester on a 5-game winning streak that upped their record to 8-3.

Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #32, Andre Hawkins (7.6 ppg. 4.6 rebs., .566 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (13.2 pts., 6.2 rebs., 5.8 asts., .453 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (16.1 ppg., 3.0 rebs., 2.8 asts., .872 ft%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (14.0 pts., 2.5 rebs., 5.3 asts., .451 3-pt.%)
G, #22, Damon Ellison (11.8 pts., 4.2 rebs.)

Florida Tech Probable Starters:
F, #31, Justin Sedlak (21.0 pts., 7.1 rebs., .560 fg%)
F, #33, Derek Hellemann (7.7 pts., 5.5 rebs., .560 fg%)
G, #5, Simon Cummings (12.6 pts., 2.8 rebs., 3.7 asts.)
G, #32, Mark Caviness (5.7 pts., 3.4 rebs.)
G, #45, Julius Reid (11.5 pts., 4.7 rebs., 5.1 asts., .370 3-pt.%)

SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern leads the all-time series, 64-19, and are 6-4 against the Panthers under current coach Linc Darner. Six of those 10 games have been decided by five points or less, including both games last year. In the first meeting, the Moccasins got a 3-pointer in the final minute from Terry Jenkins that snapped a tie game and led to an 81-77 win in Lakeland. Rion Rayfield led the Mocs in that one with 27 points. Four weeks later in Melbourne, the Mocs rallied from a 23-point deficit in the final 13 minutes to send the game to overtime, but the Panthers prevailed when Simon Cummings made a steal with three seconds to play, setting up a free throw by Mark Caviness that gave Florida Tech a 79-78 win. Damon Ellison was the Mocs' top scorer with 17.

ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Mocs last played on December 18 and 19 when they defeated Talladega and Tuskegee to go into Christmas break on a 5-game winning streak. In each of those games, the Mocs scored a season-high 96 points to push their season average to 85.7. They're shooting 46 percent overall, and are second in the SSC in both 3-point shooting percentage (.421) and free throw percentage (.761). Four Moccasins are averaging at least 11.8 points per game, led by Terry Jenkins, who scored 60 in the final two games before the break. He now ranks sixth in the SSC in scoring. Rion Rayfield, who's second on the team in scoring and has gone over 1,500 points in his career, leads Florida Southern with 32 3-point field goals and has helped the Mocs make 99 treys as a team, an averaging of 9.0 per game. In addition to that statistic, four Moccasins are shooting better than 40 percent from long range, including reserve Cameron Wooten, who averages 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench. Brett Bailey has also been a major contributor off the bench, averaging 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds overall, and is coming off a 10-point, 9-rebound performance against defending SIAC champion Tuskegee.

ABOUT FLORIDA TECH... While the Moccasins are playing their SSC opener, Florida Tech (10-3) is playing its second conference game after beating Saint Leo 80-73 on December 4. Since then, they've split two games in Alaska before the break (losing to Alaska-Anchorage, 70-47, and defeating Alaska-Fairbanks, 94-75) and downed Trinity College (FL), 84-62 on Thursday. They're led by 5th-year senior Justin Sedlak,who finished third in the SSC in scoring as a sophomore, was second as a junior and is leading the league this year with a 21.0 average. He's had six games this year with at least 25 points, including 29 in the win over Saint Leo. Simon Cummings, who was sixth in the SSC in scoring last year, is still second on the team at 12.6 ppg. and is one of four Panthers averaging double digit points. Julius Reid is another, and is coming off a triple-double in the win over Trinity (14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). Anthony Jackson completes that group, averaging 12.3 points, a team-high 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals despite coming off the bench in every game. Another reserve, Demetrius Harvey, scores 6.5 points per game and is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and 92 percent from the line. While Florida Tech has roughly the same scoring average as Florida Southern (85.2 to 85.7), turnovers have been a problem for the Panthers, who have had five games this year with at least 20.

A free live video stream of the game will be available at http://fsc.nmtvsports.com/

Live stats will be available at: http://www.flsouthern.edu/athletics/mens/livestats/xlive.htm