Box Score The one thing the Moccasins could control in their bid to earn a home game in the first round of the SSC Tournament was Wednesday night's game with Tampa and the Moccasins did what they had to do - win, downing the Spartans, 85-76, in the final regular season home game at Jenkins Field House.
However, they didn't get the help they needed from Barry and Eckerd. In addition to beating Tampa, the Moccasins needed either Rollins or Saint Leo to lose their final two games, but that didn't happen. Rollins beat Barry 57-47 and Saint Leo beat Eckerd 58-49.
That means the Moccasins will play on the road next Wednesday in the first round. They won't know who their opponent is until after Saturday night's final regular season SSC games. The Moccasins' win over Tampa gave them a final regular season league mark of 9-7. Rollins and Saint Leo both are 9-6 with one game to play, but both teams hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Mocs.
Against Tampa, the Moccasins used a 10-2 spurt to go from a 25-23 lead to a 35-25 margin witih 6:25 left in the first half and Tampa never got closer than six points the rest of the game.
The nine point halftime edge, 48-39, wound up being the final margin, as Tampa (6-19, 2-13 SSC) played the Moccasins even in the second half.
Six players scored in double figures for the Moccasins and all 14 players in uniform got into the game, as the Moccasins improved to 16-9 overall. Brett Bailey led the way with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, his fifth of the season. Seth Evans had 17 points, Dominic Lane and Tyler Kelly each scored 14, Kevin Capers had 12 and Cameron Vines added 10. Kelly's 14 points were his season high.
The Moccasins' balanced scoring was enough to offset a 32-point effort effort by Tampa's Ashton Graham.
Saturday the Moccasins finish their regular season with a 4 p.m. non-conference game at Palm Beach Atlantic.
