Box Score
LAKELAND - Florida Southern got off a 23-2 start in the game's opening seven-plus minutes here Saturday afternoon and cruised to a 98-62 non-conference win over Palm Beach Atlantic at Jenkins Field House.
The 20th-ranked Moccasins, who improved to 12-2 overall on the season and ran its home court win streak to eight straight games, had four players finish with 15 or more points and a total of 12 of the 14 players that saw action scored in the 36-point win. The 98 points is the second-highest scoring output of the season for the Mocs as they scored 99 points earlier this season in a 99-77 home win over Armstrong Atlantic. FSC has now scored 90-plus points in its last two games and five times this season overall.
"I thought we got off a tremendous start and played well on both ends of the floor," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said following his team's ninth home win over the season. "Then I thought we didn't very play well at the end of the first half, but we came out in the second half with a better effort."
Saturday's game was the first of two meetings this season between PBA as the Mocs travel to West Palm Beach for a game on Feb. 16. PBA fell to 1-14 on the season with the loss.
The Mocs scored the game's first five points and led 23-2 just a little over seven minutes into the game following a basket by sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.). The Sailfish stopped the FSC run with two free throws by Christian Martinez at the 11:56 mark, before the Mocs 19-6 run capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) to push its lead to 44-10 with 6:42 left in the opening half.
"We did a nice job sharing the basketball today and getting a lot of players involved in the offense," the Mocs coach added.
The Mocs finished the game with a season-high 29 assists on 38 made baskets.
Following the 34-point lead, the Sailfish closed the first half on a 21-12 run to drop the Mocs lead to 56-31 at the half. PBA's run was aided by seven Moc turnovers. For the game, the Mocs committed just 14 turnovers, with 10 of them coming in the opening half.
Evans led the way offensively for the Mocs with a team-high 19 points and added four assists and three steals in 17 minutes, while junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.), sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and sophomore guard Cameron Vines (Columbus, Ohio) each tallied 15 points in the win, while Williams and senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) each had eight points for the game. Vines and Lane each pulled down seven boards for the Mocs.
In the second half, PBA scored the first four points out of the locker room to pull within 56-35, but would get no closer as the Mocs used a 34-13 run capped by a lay-up from Vines with 8:10 left to push its lead to 42 points at 90-48. The 42 point lead was the largest of the season for the Mocs.
The Sailfish would close out the game by scoring 14 of the final 22 points to set the final margin at 36 points.
Martinez led the way for PBA as he scored a game-high 22 points, while Marcus Hardy added 16 points and eight boards in the loss.
For the game, the Mocs shot 55 percent from the field, including shooting 58 percent from the floor in the first half and shot 39 percent from the 3-point line. FSC shot 54 percent (7-for-13)Â from long distance in the opening half. PBA finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field and 24 percent from the 3-point line.
In addition, the Mocs forced the Sailfish into 25 turnovers, which led to 37 points and held a 44-36 edge on the boards. In addition, the Mocs bench outscored PBA's bench, 49-19.
The Mocs will conclude its current three-game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 23 as they host Tampa in a 7:30 p.m. Sunshine State Conference game at Jenkins Field House. The Spartans fell to 13-4 overall on the season and 1-4 in the league after its 68-51 home loss Saturday to Nova Southeastern.Â
