Box Score LAKELAND - The NCAA Tournament may still be several months away, but the championship game of the Terrace Hotel/Ledger Media Group Tournament felt like a playoff game in November -complete with a buzzer-beating shot by a freshman. It was Kevin Capers who provided Florida Southern with the winning points as time expired, lifting the Moccasins to an 85-84 win over Armstrong Atlantic State.
Saturday night's game saw 10 lead changes and 11 ties, neither team led by more than six throughout the second half, and by no more than three over the final 6½ minutes. It also marked the second year in a row Florida Southern and Armstrong Atlantic played a game at Jenkins Field House that was decided at the buzzer, with the Pirates missing two shots in the final three seconds last year in another one-point win by the Moccasins.
This time, it was Florida Southern with a chance to win at the end, and Capers delivered.
Armstrong Atlantic (3-1) had taken an 82-80 lead on two free throws by DeVon Jones with 2:52 remaining, before both teams failed to score on their next possession. When Florida Southern got the ball back again with under two minutes to play, Seth Evans got the ball inside to Brett Bailey, who kicked it back out to Evans for a 3-pointer from the right corner that put FSC ahead, 83-82.
The Moccasins (4-1) fouled the Pirates on their next two possessions, but each time they were able to make only one free throw, leaving Armstrong with an 84-83 lead with 58 seconds remaining. The Mocs eventually got the ball back after Armstrong missed a shot with 15 seconds on the clock, but Capers was off target with a potential go-ahead basket with less than five seconds to play. The Pirates had a chance to potentially end the game right there, but Keyshore Williams was unable to maintain control of the ball as he went to the ground with the rebound, allowing the Mocs to keep possession under the basket.
After their first in-bounds pass was swatted away, the Mocs had just 3.3 seconds to work with, but made the most of it. This time, Dominic Lane got the ball in to Capers, who drove toward the basket from the left side of the lane, and laid the ball off the glass and through the net as the horn sounded.
Those were Capers’ first points since the first minute of the second half, and only his third field goal of the night. The freshman guard finished with seven points overall.
For most of the night, it was Evans, Bailey and Lane who kept Florida Southern's offense going, with Evans leading all scorers in the game with 26 points. Bailey and Lane each scored 13, and Bailey also grabbed 14 rebounds. Garrett Putman wasn't far behind with nine points and 10 boards.
As the lead was changing hands several times in the final 10 minutes, Evans, Bailey and Lane all scored points that either tied the score or gave Florida Southern a lead. The Mocs had trailed 68-66 before they went on an 8-0 run that featured four points by Evans, and two apiece by Lane and Kyle Tazioli. They were able to hold the lead for more than four minutes before the Pirates got it back with 3:42 remaining.
Armstrong Atlantic had the better if it early in the game, as the Pirates out-scored the Moccasins 11-2 in the first 3½ minutes. Three different Pirates hit 3-pointers during that early stretch before Tazioli hit a pair of triples for the Mocs that helped close the gap to 15-12.
Armstrong Atlantic was able to push its lead back to seven with 3½ minutes to play before halftime, but the Mocs put together another charge led by Evans and Lane, and out-scored the Pirates 12-0 to close out the first half. Evans scored the first five of those points, and Lane dropped in a 3-pointer for the final points of the run, giving the Mocs a 38-33 lead at the break.
While Evans, Bailey and Lane all scored in double figures for Florida Southern, Armstrong Atlantic had five players in double figures, led by Aric Miller with 17 points. Mychal Horn had 15, DeVon Jones and Keyshore Williams had 14, and Chris VanLandingham had 10.
Florida Southern returns to the court on Saturday, December 3, when it plays its first conference game of the year at Rollins. The Moccasins will then face Armstrong Atlantic again two nights later in Savannah.
