After an overtime loss at Florida Tech on Wednesday, Florida Southern returns home Saturday night seeking its 10th straight win at Jenkins Field House, and its 14th straight conference win. The game against Barry will also feature a 30-year anniversary celebration of three Florida Southern teams that all captured national titles during the 1980-81 school year. On hand will be members of the 1981 men's basketball, men's golf and baseball teams for a special halftime presentation.
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GAME SPONSORS
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Mid-Florida
Play it Again Sports
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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, #33, Cameron Wooten (7.2 pts., 5.2 rebs., .396 3-pt.%)
F, #40, Brett Bailey (6.7 pts., 4.2 rebs., .585 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (14.0 ppg., 6.5 rebs., 5.0 asts., .419 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (16.0 pts., 3.7 rebs., .411 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (14.5 pts., 2.8 rebs., 4.9 asts., .410 3-pt.%)
Barry Probable Starters:
F, #32, Willie Whitfield (15.8 pts., 10.5 rebs., 2.2 blocks)
F, #5, Bartas Visinkis (2.8 pts., 1.9 rebs.)
G, #2, Vladimir Raymonvil (5.8 pts., 1.4 rebs., .433 3-pt.%)
G, #14, Bryan Van Cott (6.7 pts., 3.4 rebs.)
G, #23, Zack Trapp (11.1 pts., 3.5 rebs., 2.2 asts., .419 3-pt.%)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern is 39-14 all time against Barry, but the Buccaneers have won three straight in the series for the first time ever. One of those wins came earlier this year in Miami Shores when the Bucs shot 56 percent from the floor and held the Moccasins to 35 percent in a 77-55 Barry win. A win over Florida Southern on Saturday would give the Buccaneers only their second sweep of the Moccasins since Barry joined the Sunshine State Conference in 1988-89. The Bucs also won two postseason meetings last year, knocking Florida Southern out of the SSC Tournament in the semifinals, and the NCAA South Region Tournament in the first round.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins (15-6, 6-3 in the SSC) are looking for a split on Saturday in both its weekly SSC schedule and its annual series with Barry. Though averaging over 82 points per game, the Moccasins still figure to have their work cut out for them against the Buccaneers, who have held them to 61, 59, and 55 points in the last three meetings. That was after the Mocs had scored a total of 187 points against the Bucs in the two regular season encounters last year. Since the 77-55 loss to Barry on January 8, the Moccasins have made two lineup changes, inserting both Cameron Wooten and Brett Bailey into the starting five, while bringing Damon Ellison and A.J. Hawkins off the bench. All of them have responded well too, and Ellison is still averaging better than 10 points and 24 minutes per game as a reserve. He's scored at least 16 in that role in three of the last five games, and remains one of four Moccasins averaging double digit points for the season. The team leader is reigning SSC Player-of-the-Week Terry Jenkins, who has four games with at least 27 included in his 16.0 average. Along with his brother Brandon Jenkins, and Rion Rayfield, he gives Florida Southern three players shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range, with Wooten just behind them at .396. The Mocs also have five players shooting better than 80 percent from the line, and Ellison is shooting exactly 80 percent over the last seven games. As a team, the Mocs are shooting 81 percent in conference play.
ABOUT BARRY... Barry has been to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last six years, but has had to replace half its roster this year, including two All-SSC players who helped them reach the second round of the 2010 South Region Tournament. After a rough start though, the Buccaneers have won three straight, and with another win on Saturday, would pull within one game of Florida Southern in the win column in the SSC standings. Cesar Odio, who was a member of Florida Southern's 1981 national championship team, has won more games than any other coach in program history, and typically wins with defense. Over the last nine seasons, the Buccaneers have finished first or second in the league in scoring defense, and they're ranked #2 this year. During their current 3-game winning streak, the Bucs have not allowed more than 59 points, and their last two wins have come over regionally ranked teams Tampa and Eckerd. Overall, Barry has played eight games against teams that are ranked in the top eight of their respective regional polls. Offensively, the Bucs are paced by Willie Whitfield, who's averaging 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, and leads the SSC in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage. He had 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks against the Moccasins earlier this year for one of his 10 double-doubles. Zack Trapp also had a big game against the Moccasins with 23 points, and is second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg.), while Evan White, who typically comes off the bench, averages 10.9 points per game. Though Barry is second in the SSC in scoring defense, the Bucs are last in scoring offense (65.2).
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
