The two teams who shared last year's Sunshine State Conference regular season championship meet again this Saturday with the title once again on the line. This time, Florida Southern will be trying to prevent Rollins from clinching the title outright, while keeping its own hopes alive for a fourth straight title of its own, and a second straight co-championship with the Tars.
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GAME SPONSORS
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BB&T
Kurt Elmhorst at Allen & Company
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CATERING FOR SIXTH MAN CLUB PROVIDED BY
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The Rib Crib
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #33, Cameron Wooten (7.7 pts., 5.2 rebs., .441 3-pt.%)
F, #40, Brett Bailey (7.0 pts., 4.4 rebs., .579 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (13.3 ppg., 6.4 rebs., 5.1 asts., .385 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (15.3 pts., 3.0 rebs., 4.8 asts., .429 3-pt.%)
G, #22, Damon Ellison (10.8 pts., 3.6 rebs., 1.8 asts.)
Rollins Probable Starters:
F, #3, Matt Robertson (15.3 pts., 6.1 rebs., .458 3-pt.%)
C, #33, Nikola Baran (7.3 pts., 2.8 rebs.)
G, #2, Nick Wolf (20.0 pts., 10.2 rebs., 2.9 asts., .527 fg%)
G, #21, Ian Scott (7.0 pts., 2.3 rebs., 2.5 asts., .591 fg%)
G, #32, Myk Brown (13.3 pts., 1.9 rebs., .874 ft%)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern has played Rollins more than any other team in its history, and is 111-49 all-time against the Tars. Rollins won the earlier meeting this year in Winter Park, 79-68, with Nick Wolf scoring 23 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. The Moccasins were led by Rion Rayfield, who scored 13 points, while Brett Bailey and Andre Hawkins each scored 11. The two teams have split in the regular season each of the last two years, with each winning at home. The Moccasins also beat the Tars in overtime in the 2009 SSC Championship Game. Rollins' last sweep in the series came in 2007, while Florida Southern pulled off a sweep in 2008.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins return to Jenkins Field House to face Rollins, where they've won 11 straight overall and 15 straight Sunshine State Conference games. That's their second longest SSC home-court winning streak in team history, topped by only a 19-game streak spanning the 1984-88 seasons. Saturday night's game is of significance for several reasons, but first and foremost, the Mocs need a win to stay alive in the SSC title race. They currently trail the Tars by three games with three remaining. They also need a win to improve their chances of hosting a first-round game in the SSC Tournament, though a win by itself would not guarantee the Mocs of clinching one.The top four seeds host first-round games, and the Mocs are only one game ahead of fifth-place Tampa, who they play next Wednesday in their home finale. Florida Southern is also chasing Rollins in the South Region rankings as well, with the Tars currently at No. 2, and the Moccasins at No. 3; Alabama-Huntsville still holds the top position, but if the Chargers stumble, both Rollins and Florida Southern would have a chance to move ahead of them as a potential host for the NCAA South Region Tournament. Despite their loss to Eckerd on Wednesday night, the Moccasins still lead the SSC in scoring with 81.3 points per game, and boast four players (Rion Rayfield, Terry Jenkins, Brandon Jenkins and Damon Ellison) in double figures. A fifth player, Cameron Wooten, is averaging 9.9 points over the last seven games since returning from injury. The Mocs are also the only team in the SSC shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range (.411), with Wooten (4th), Rayfield (5th), Terry Jenkins (6th) and Brandon Jenkins (12th) all among the best in the league; and though he doesn't often shoot from long range, Ellison is still one of the league's top shooting guards, with his .488 percentage from the floor second in the SSC among perimeter players.
ABOUT ROLLINS... The Tars are the hottest team in the Sunshine State Conference, having won 12 in a row since suffering their only SSC loss of the season to Tampa on January 2. That winning streak has helped move Rollins up to No. 18 in the Division II national poll, and No. 2 in the South Region rankings which determine which eight teams from the region qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March. Rollins has already clinched at least a share of the conference title, but needs one more win to secure the #1 seed. It's the sixth time in the last nine years Rollins has won at least a share of the regular season championship, and between them, either Rollins or Florida Southern have won 11 of the last 13. Rollins has four returning starters from last year's team that won the conference tournament and advanced to the South Region Championship Game. Among them are 2009 SSC Player-of-the-Year Nick Wolf, who was also a First Team All-American in 2010, and Myk Brown, who was the MVP of last year's conference tournament. Matt Robertson and Nikola Baran are also returning starters for the Tars. Ian Scott has moved into the lineup this year after being one of their top reserves in 2010, and those five players have combined to start all but two games this year. Wolf is in the running once again for Player-of-the-Year honors as the only player in the SSC averaging double figures in both points (20.0) and rebounds (10.2). He ranks second in the SSC in both categories. He's also shooting 53 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the line, though his 3-point percentage has fallen to .296 (24-for-81). Robertson is the current SSC Player-of-the-Week, and is tied for sixth in the SSC with Rion Rayfield for scoring, while ranking third in overall field goal percentage (.571) and second in 3-point percentage (.458). He's one of four Rollins players who have attempted at least 72 shots behind the arc, with Nikola Baran leading the way with 124.
A free live video webcast of Saturday's game will be available at http://fsc.nmtvsports.com/
Live stats for Saturday's game will be available at http://www.flsouthern.edu/athletics/mens/livestats/xlive.htm
