Back-to-back Sunshine State Conference wins have kept Florida Southern among a large group of teams in the middle of the SSC standings, and now the Moccasins are looking for a third straight win that would vault them into second place, or get them within a half game of first place. The 4th-place Moccasins (10-5, 4-3) hope to get that win on Saturday night when they host 5th-place Lynn University (10-8, 3-3) at 7:30 p.m.
Live stats will be available at: http://www.flsouthern.edu/athletics/mens/livestats/xlive.htm
A live audio/video webcast will be available at: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com
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GAME SPONSORS
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Office Furniture Depot
Rodda Construction
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CATERING FOR SIXTH MAN CLUB PROVIDED BY
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Grillsmith
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Florida Southern Probable Starters:
F, #40, Brett Bailey (14.3 pts., 7.4 rebs., .585 fg%)
G, #00, Kevin Capers (13.7 pts., 2.7 rebs., 3.7 asts.)
G, #1, Cameron Vines (6.1 pts., 4.7 rebs.)
G, #5, Dominic Lane (11.9 pts., 5.3 rebs., 2.3 asts.)
G, #14, Tyler Kelly (4.9 pts., 1.5 rebs., 3.7 asts.)
SERIES HISTORY... The Moccasins are 25-10 all-time against Lynn and 8-3 under Linc Darner. The Mocs have swept the Knights in each of the last two seasons, with two of those games decided by one point. The last win in the series by Lynn was also a 1-point game, and it marks the last time Florida Southern has lost a conference game at home (February 21, 2009). In last year's two meetings, Florida Southern won 68-67 in Lakeland, and 79-69 in Boca Raton.
ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN... For the second time this year, Florida Southern has won back-to-back SSC games and is looking for three straight, but the last time the Mocs were in this position they lost to Nova Southeastern. This time, however, the Mocs will be at home where they've lost just one conference game in the last four years. The Mocs also made a lineup change in the last two games, putting four guards in the starting lineup against Barry and Tampa, including Cameron Vines, who has made the first two starts of his career. Leading scorer Seth Evans has come off the bench in the last two games but still scored 23 points against Barry and 13 at Tampa, keeping him third in the SSC in scoring with a 16.5 average. He also remains third in the nation in free throw percentage (.944, 67-for-71). Brett Bailey, who scored a career-high 24 points in the 97-71 win at Tampa on Wednesday, is now the Mocs' second leading scorer and ranks seventh in the SSC with a 14.3 average, with Kevin Capers (13.7) and Dominic Lane (11.9) also averaging double figure points. Lane has made at least two 3-pointers in six straight games and is shooting 39 percent from behind the arc during that time, just behind the team-leading 40 percent Evans is shooting for the season. Kyle Tazioli, who had a career-high 17 points at Tampa, was 4-for-6 from long range, and though he doesn't have enough attempts to qualify for the SSC leaders, he's now shooting 41 percent from 3-point distance. That group of players has helped the Moccasins shoot 47 percent from the floor in the last two games, go 18-for-42 on 3-point attempts (.429), shoot 83 percent from the line, and commit their fewest turnovers over a 2-game stretch this season.
ABOUT LYNN... The Knights ended a 3-game conference losing streak on Wednesday with an 82-67 win at Nova Southeastern, shooting 55 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range (7-for-14). Lynn is the best 3-point shooting team in the SSC this year, having made 142 in 18 games and posting a .391 percentage. Freshman guard Brandon Smith ranks third individually in 3-point percentage at .449 (31-for-69), and junior college transfer Slobodan Miljanic ranks fifth at .423 (47-for-111). Smith averages 9.6 points per game, and Miljanic, a 6-7 junior forward, is second on the team with his 12.1 average. DeMario Fountain falls a little short of qualifying, but is a 43 percent long-range shooter while averaging 7.9 points. The Knights are led by their only returning starter from last year, senior guard Josh Garcia, who averages 12.6 points per game and shoots 37 percent from long range (35-for-94). Although Garcia is the only starter back from last year's team, the Knights also return 5th-year senior Michel Vidal, who started all but four games in 2009 and 2010 before taking a medical redshirt in 2011. Vidal is averaging 6.5 points and 9.6 rebounds, has a team-high 25 blocked shots, 40 assists and 22 steals. He's leading the SSC in rebounding, something he also did as a sophomore and junior when he averaged 10.9 per game during that time. Senior forward Bo Jukic was a part-time starter in 2011, and is averaging 7.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this season.
