Box Score Led by another stellar performance off the bench by Seth Evans, the Moccasins delivered a haymaker early to Florida Tech and bounced the top-seeded Panthers out of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, 108-80, Saturday at Jenkins Field House.
The win put the fifth-seeded Moccasins (19-9) in the title game for the first time since 2009. Their opponent in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship game will be third-seeded Saint Leo (18-10), which hasn't reached the SSC title game since 1986, when they lost to the Moccasins, 73-66.
Evans, who leads the Moccasins and the SSC in scoring, poured in 27 points, 19 in the first half. He came into the game with 17:27 left in the first half and promptly sank three straight three-pointers that put the Moccasins up 21-2 with 14:06 remaining in the half and for all intents and purposes they could have put out the "game over" sign, as the Panthers never got closer than 15 points the rest of the night.
Evans certainly didn't have to carry the offensive load by himself, as the Moccasins had four other players in double figures. Brett Bailey posted his sixth double-double of the season with a 22-point, 11-rebound performance. Cameron Vines matched his season scoring high with 16 points. Dominic Lane also had 16 and Kevin Capers added 12, as the Moccasins enjoyed their highest-scoring game of the season and their first 100-point game since a 104-103 road win at Nova Southeastern last season.
The Moccasins shot a sizzling 60.5 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game at 58.8 percent. They conncected on a season-high 14 three-pointers and out-rebounded the Panthers 42-28.
Saint Leo, behind a pair of sparkling performances by Marcus Ruh and Trent Thomas, eliminated second-seeded Eckerd. Ruh made six of eight free throws in the final minute to kept the Lions out of reach and finished with 24 points. Thomas poured in 30.
The Moccasins were not in the NCAA South Rankings this week, so a win Sunday likely is a must if they hope to reach the NCAA Tournament. Saint Leo won both SSC regular season games from the Moccasins, 60-57 at Saint Leo on Jan.11 and 75-72 at Jenkins Field House Feb. 15.
Sunday's 1 p.m. title game game will be televised live by Bright House Networks.
