Box Score
MELBOURNE - Florida Southern used a season-high 11 three-pointers and held off a furious second-half surge by Florida Tech to move into a first place tie in the Sunshine State Conference standings thanks to its 95-92 victory Saturday afternoon at the Clemente Center on the Tech campus.
The 14th-ranked Moccasins, who improved to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the SSC, extended its win streak to five straight games and its SSC win streak to four straight thanks to three players scoring 19 points and another adding 14 points in the win.
"I am happy with the win. I thought our depth was a key factor in the game, especially in the first half," Mocs coach Linc Darner said following his team's first win in Melbourne since the 2007-08 season. "We made some careless plays and didn't do a good job at taking care of the basketball, but were able to survive."
Saturday's win was the first for the Mocs in Melbourne since earning an 87-79 win over the Panthers on Feb. 16, 2008. In fact, the last three games for the Mocs in Melbourne prior to Saturday's contest resulted in overtime losses.
"We were able to finally find a way to way a game here after losing four straight in this building," said Darner, who is now 10-6 all-time against Tech.
The Mocs win on Saturday can be attributed to an offense that scored 55 points and hit 10 three-pointers in the opening half. The 55 first half points was one short of the season-high of 56 set by the Mocs last Saturday against Palm Beach Atlantic.
It appeared in the opening six minutes of the game that Tech's mastery over the Mocs would continue as the Panthers jumped out to a 15-4 lead. The lead, though, was shortlived as the Mocs used a 21-6 run capped by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) to take a 25-21 lead with 10:55 left in the half.
After Tech stopped the run with a lay-up from Jermaine Jackson, the Mocs used a 28-13 run keyed by six three-pointers, including three by Kelly, to take a 53-36 win 2:59 left in the half. Kelly finished the game with a career-high 15 points as he was 4-for-6 from the 3-point line.
"Tyler really shot the ball well here the past two seasons. He likes playing in this gym," the Mocs coach said.
The Panthers closed the first half on a 7-2 run to drop FSC's lead to 55-43 at the half.
In the second half, Tech used a 17-12 run over a span of seven-plus minutes to pull within 67-60 following a tip-in by Chris Carter. The Mocs would respond with a 15-4 run capped by a basket from junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) to push its lead to 82-64 with 8:05 left in the game. Lane tied for the team lead in scoring with 19 points.
In addition to Lane, Capers and Vines each scored 19 points. The 19 points by Vines established a new career high.
At the point, the game became one of attrition as the Mocs and Panthers battled foul trouble as two Mocs and three Panthers fouled out as their were a combined 51 fouls called and a combined 59 free throws shot, including 30 free throws in the second half. Senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) and sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) fouled out for FSC.
In addition to battling foul trouble in the second half, the Mocs also struggled to take of the basketball as they committed a season-high 21 turnovers that led to 27 Tech points. The Mocs entered the game leading Division II in turnover margin (+8.7), but finished Saturday's game with a minus-two edge on turnovers as Tech had 19 for the game.
"We had way too many careless turnovers. We committed 21 in the game and that is not us," Darner said. Prior to Saturday's game, the Mocs hadn't committed more than 17 turnovers in a game this season.
After Lane's basket, the Panthers started its comeback as they used a 17-2 run capped by a lay-up from Terrance Tubbs to pull within 84-81 with 4:39 remaining in the game. The Mocs pushed its lead to 92-82 following six consecutive free throws and a lay-up by senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) with 3:36 left. Bailey's lay-up gave the Mocs a 92-82 lead.
A tip-in by Carter and two straight treys from the Panthers dropped the Mocs lead to 92-90 with 1:39 left, but Capers sealed the win with a driving lay-up with 32 seconds left that pushed FSC's lead to 94-90. Julius Reid pulled Tech within 94-92 after hitting two free throws, before Kelly capped the game's scoring by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 15 seconds left.
"I thought Kevin (Capers) made some big time plays tonight. That lay-up that gave us a four-point lead was a tremendous play," Darner added.
Carter and Reid led the way for the Panthers with 23 points apiece, while Jackson added 17 points and Tubbs chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
For the game, the Mocs finished shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line, while Tech shot 49 percent from the floor and 36 percent from long distance. Along with holding an edge on turnovers, Tech also outrebounded the Mocs, 41-37 and outscored the Mocs, 46-30 in the paint. FSC outscored Tech's bench, 42-3.
The Mocs will close out the first half of SSC play on Wednesday, Jan. 30 as they travel to Winter Park for a 7:30 p.m. SSC contest against 17th-ranked Rollins. The Tars fell to 14-3 on the season and 6-1 in the SSC with its 79-54 loss Saturday at Saint Leo.
