For the second time this year, Florida Southern and Rollins square off as top-20 opponents, but Saturday night their focus will be more on the Sunshine State Conference than national rankings. The Moccasins (18-3, 7-3) currently trail the Tars (17-3, 8-1) by a game-and-a-half in the SSC standings, and need a win to stay within striking distance for their third straight SSC title.
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GAME SPONSORS
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Kurt Elmhorst at Allen & Company, BB&T, Citizens Bank
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CATERING FOR SIXTH MAN CLUB PROVIDED BY
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Fred's Southern Kitchen
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #15, John Thompson (15.3 ppg., 8.7 rebs., 1.5 asts.)
F, #32, A.J. Hawkins (7.4 ppg., 4.4 rebs., .620 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (12.2 pts., 5.1 rebs., 5.1 asts., .465 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (13.3 pts., 2.9 rebs., 2.7 asts., .429 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (16.6 pts., 3.0 rebs., 5.2 asts., 1.7 steals, .463 3-pt.%)
Rollins Probable Starters:
F, # 3, Matt Robertson (8.2 pts., 5.2 rebs., .500 fg%)
F, #33, Nikola Baran (7.1 pts., 3.1 rebs., .355 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Nick Wolf (18.6 pts., 8.0 rebs., 3.4 asts)
G, #11, Julian Wilkison (6.3 pts., 1.1 reb., 2.7 asts., .423 3-pt.%)
G, #32, Myk Brown (17.2 pts., 4.2 rebs., 2.2 asts., .378 3-pt.%)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern leads the series 110-48, which includes an earlier win by Rollins this year in Winter Park. The Tars won that game on January 9 by a score of 91-88, handing the Moccasins their first loss of the season. The Tars were led by Myk Brown and Nick Wolf, who scored 30 and 26 points respectively, while Terry Jenkins scored a career-high 31 for the Moccasins with nine 3-pointers, and Rion Rayfield added 24 points, six assists and five steals. Rollins led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Mocs rallied and had the game tied when Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. Rollins won, however, on a 3-point field goal by Nikola Baran with four seconds to play, Baran's only basket of the game. Florida Southern is 59-18 against Rollins in Lakeland and won last year's game at Jenkins Field House, 102-90, behind 38 points by Rion Rayfield, while Nick Wolf countered with 32.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins had a six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night when they lost on the road to Florida Tech, 79-78 in overtime. It was the second time this year Florida Southern trailed by more than 20 points in the second half and came back to force overtime, but unlike the game against Tampa on January 20, this one ended in defeat. Now the Mocs are returning home where they've yet to lose this year, and have lost only one regular season game over the last two seasons. To keep that streak alive, they'll have to bounce back from their worst 3-point shooting night of the season, a game in which they made just six-of-22 attempts behind the arc. Florida Southern began the week ranked #1 in the country in 3-point shooting percentage, and even after the off night at Florida Tech, the Mocs are still at .455 for the season. Since Linc Darner arrived four years ago, some of their best games have come against Rollins too. Earlier this season, the Mocs went 18-for-35 from long range in the 91-88 loss at Rollins, and in last year's meeting at Jenkins Field House, they were 22-for-43, setting school records for 3-point field goals made and attempted. Two years ago, the Mocs had another game against Rollins in which they made 15. At Florida Tech, the Mocs were without Rion Rayfield, the league's top 3-point shooter for most of the game, and the starting trio of Rayfield, Brandon Jenkins and Terry Jenkins was held to just 18 points. However, the Mocs still got points from the guard position, with Damon Ellison scoring 17 off the bench, and Jay Hubble adding 16, both those totals career highs. Ellison is averaging 5.7 points off the bench, the best for any Moccasin reserve, and Hubble is averaging 6.8 over the last six games. John Thompson has been hot lately too, averaging 18.6 points and 10.1 rebounds in his last seven games.
ABOUT ROLLINS... Since suffering their only conference loss of the season on January 6 to Barry, Rollins has won eight in a row, including a 65-45 non-conference win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday. Their winning streak began with a 91-88 victory over Florida Southern, followed by an overtime win against Nova Southeastern. They also earned a 2-point win at Eckerd during their streak, but the Tars lead the league in scoring defense by allowing just 62.1 points per game. Florida Southern is one of only five teams to score more than 70 against them, and the 88 points they scored, even in a losing effort, are the most allowed by Rollins this season. Offensively, Rollins ranks eighth in the SSC in scoring with 74.6 points per game, but the Tars do lead the conference in field goal percentage (.504), making the most of the scoring chances they have. No player on the roster is shooting less than 44 percent, and the one who has the lowest percentage, Nikola Baran, hit the game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds to play that beat Florida Southern in the first meeting in January. Rollins' leading scorer is Nick Wolf, last year's SSC Player-of-the-Year, but the team's top scorer in each of the last five games has been Myk Brown, a transfer from Virginia Commonwealth, and one of five transfers on this year's team. Brown is one of the league's best shooters, making 52 percent of his field goal attempts, 38 percent of his 3-point tries, and 82 percent of his free throws. Wolf, Brown and Matt Robertson have started every game this year, and Julian Wilkison has started all but one, though Wolf and Brown are the only Tars averaging double figure points. Ian Scott has been one of the league's top reserves, averaging 5.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while also ranking third in the SSC in steals.
