Facing Saint Leo for the second time this year, Florida Southern is looking for its second win over the Lions, while at the same time, trying to strengthen its position in the NCAA Division II South Region rankings. The Moccasins (16-6, 7-3) defeated the Lions 84-74 in early January, giving them a chance to complete their first conference sweep of the season. They've already split with Florida Tech and Barry, and another win over Saint Leo would keep them within striking distance of Rollins in the Sunshine State Conference race.
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GAME SPONSORS
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Bank of Central Florida
Riley Short (in honor of Claire Short)
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CATERING FOR SIXTH MAN CLUB PROVIDED BY
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Applebee's
Champs Sports Grill
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #33, Cameron Wooten (7.2 pts., 5.2 rebs., .418 3-pt.%)
F, #40, Brett Bailey (6.6 pts., 4.3 rebs., .563 fg%)
G, #1, Brandon Jenkins (13.8 ppg., 6.6 rebs., 5.0 asts., .421 3-pt.%)
G, #2, Terry Jenkins (16.2 pts., 3.8 rebs., .415 3-pt.%)
G, #20, Rion Rayfield (14.3 pts., 3.0 rebs., 4.8 asts., .401 3-pt.%)
Saint Leo Probable Starters:
F, #32, Walter Perkins (6.3 pts., 5.8 rebs., .624 fg%)
C, #30, Matt Kendrick (11.8 pts., 6.6 rebs., 2.1 blocks)
G, #5, Jeremy Jackson (9.1 pts., 4.9 rebs., 1.6 asts.)
G, #11, Dominick Robinson (7.2 pts., 2.7 rebs., 1.8 asts.)
G, #22, Quentin Cullop (22.8 pts., 1.1 reb., 4.3 asts.)
SERIES HISTORY... Florida Southern holds a commanding 81-12 lead in the series and is 42-4 against Saint Leo at Jenkins Field House. Last year the Moccasins took two-of-three from the Lions, splitting the two games in the regular season, and winning 77-63 in the first round of the SSC Tournament. The Mocs won the earlier meeting this year, 84-74, getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from Brandon Jenkins, while the Lions got 25 points from Quentin Cullop. The game was tied at halftime, and Saint Leo was within two points with less than three minutes to play before the Mocs went on a 9-0 run to pull away. Jenkins hit a crushing 3-pointer with one minute remaining, and Rion Rayfield and Jay Hubble sealed it at the free throw line.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... The Moccasins extended their home-court winning streak to 11 games on Saturday with a 61-44 win over Barry, the fewest points they've allowed in Linc Darner's five years as head coach, and the fewest since a 60-44 win over Saint Leo in 2005. That was also the last time they allowed less than 50 in back-to-back games. The Mocs got 20 points from Terry Jenkins in their latest win, who made five of the team's ten 3-point field goals en route to his seventh 20-point game of the season. He's now up to fifth in the SSC in scoring, and needs six more 3-pointers to join teammates Rion Rayfield and Brandon Jenkins in the top five all-time at Florida Southern. Rayfield tops that list with 325, and has now joined Jerry Johnson (1985-88) as the only Moccasins with four straight seasons of 100 or more assists. Brandon Jenkins is second at Florida Southern in career 3-pointers with 249, and leads the team this year with his .421 percentage. Though third on the team in scoring, he could become the first Moccasin to ever lead the team in both rebounding and assists. Damon Ellison, who averages 10.5 points off the bench, is third in the SSC among perimeter players with a .481 field goal percentage. Cameron Wooten gives Florida Southern four of the league's top nine 3-point shooters and is also second on the team in rebounding, while post players Brett Bailey and Andre Hawkins combine for 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
ABOUT SAINT LEO... The Lions started the season with nine wins in their first 11 games but have stumbled of late, losing four in a row to fall to 10-11 overall and 1-10 in the SSC. Their only conference win so far came against Lynn on January 2. The Lions are led by the inside-outside combination of Matt Kendrick and Quentin Cullop, who are averaging 11.8 and 10.7 points respectively. Kendrick is also seventh in the SSC with 6.6 rebounds per game, and took over the league lead in blocked shots on Saturday from Barry's Willie Whitfield. He now has 45 blocks for the season after leading the SSC in that category last year as a freshman. Cullop, who has nearly 1,200 points in his career, was a Second Team All-SSC selection in 2009 who sat out last year after averaging 15.3 points per game as a junior. He was also third in the SSC with 4.4 assists per game that year, and first in 3-point field goals per game, and is averaging 23.0 points against the Mocs in the last three meetings. Kendrick and Cullop are the only Lions averaging double figures points, but Jeremy Jackson and Jamal Thompson are each averaging 9.1. Jackson normally starts (17 games), and Thompson normally comes off the bench (15 of his 17 games played). Thompson is second on the team to Cullop in 3-point field goals (36-for-103, .350), while Dominick Robinson, who scores 7.2 points per game, is second to Cullop in 3-point percentage (29-for-82, .354). While Saint Leo has three quality long-range shooters, the Lions have had problems at the free throw line. They're last in the SSC with a .591 percentage, with Florida Southern first at .781, a figure that also ranks sixth in Division II.
A free live video webcast of Wednesday's game will be available at http://fsc.nmtvsports.com/
Live stats for Wednesday's game will be available at http://www.flsouthern.edu/athletics/mens/livestats/xlive.htm
