Box Score LAKELAND - The Moccasins' first two games with Nova Southeastern this season were close. On Wednesday night here the Moccasins made sure the third one was not, downing the Sharks, 79-69, in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament at Jenkins Field House.
The win advances the Moccasins (22-7) to Saturday's semifinals at 5 p.m. against Eckerd in Melbourne at Florida Tech's Clemente Center.
Unlike Saturday's shootout at Ft. Laduerdale that saw 10 ties and 20 lead changes before the Moccasins won 104-103, this one was all FSC. Other than a 2-2 tie early in the game, the Moccasins were in front the entire game.
After Brett Bailey scored a career-high 21 points in Saturday's game, the Moccasins decided to go to him again and the Sharks had no answer for him. The sophomore from Davie scored 13 first-half points, going 6-7 from the field, and helped the Moccasins produce a 38-33 halftime advantage. Bailey finished with a game-high 19 points. Brandon Jenkins and Rion Rayfield each had 15. Terry Jenkins picked up 12 and Jay Hubble tossed in 10. Alex Gynes led the Sharks with 15 points.
In the second half it took the Moccasins just over five minutes to get the lead into double digits, 46-36 with 14:39 left, and that's where it stayed the rest of the game. The Mocs enjoyed their biggest lead of the game, 67-47, with 8:40 remaining.
The Moccasins shot 50% from the field (28-for-56), made 11 three-pointers and were 12-15 from the free throw line. Nova, which finished 12-15, shot 41.8 percent from the field, but was just 3-14 on three-pointers.
