LAKELAND - Sole possession of first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings will be on the line Wednesday evening when ninth-ranked Florida Southern travels to Winter Park to face 19th-ranked Rollins in a 7:30 p.m. match-up at Warden Arena on the Rollins campus.
The game, which is match-up of the only two nationally-ranked teams in the league, will conclude the first half of league play for both teams as they are each sporting a 6-1 records in SSC play. The Moccasins lone loss in SSC play came at Saint Leo (71-63) on Jan. 9, while Rollins' lone league loss came last Saturday at Saint Leo (79-54).
Since its loss at Saint Leo, the Mocs have reeled off five consecutive victories, including four in league play and improved its record to 14-2 overall on the season following its 95-92 road win this past Saturday at Florida Tech. FSC has won 12 of its last 13 games overall.
Meanwhile, Rollins enters the game having won six of its seven games and is sporting a 14-3 overall record. Prior to the loss to Saint Leo last Saturday, the Tars fell at home to Shaw (79-66) on Dec. 30. Rollins' other loss this season came in its season opener at home as the Tars fell 58-50 to Warner.
Wednesday's meeting is the 166th all-time meeting between the two schools and the first of two this season as the Mocs conclude the 2012-13 regular season at home against Rollins on Saturday, March 2. The Mocs lead the all-time series, 114-51 and have won six of the last 10 games in the series, including winning the most recent meeting in last season's first round of the SSC Tournament. In that game, the Mocs defeated the Tars, 77-63 after losing to them twice during the regular season. FSC holds a 46-33 edge in the series at Rollins, while also holding a 56-18 edge in Lakeland and also leads 12-0 on neutral courts. Mocs head coach Linc Darner is 8-7 all-time against Rollins, including being 2-5 in Winter Park.
Rollins, who was picked to finish fourth in the Preseason SSC poll, comes into this week's action as one of the top offensive and defensive teams in the league as the Tars are third in the league in both scoring offense (74.1 points per game) and scoring defense (63.4 points per game) and is second in the SSC in scoring margin (+10.6). In addition, Rollins leads the SSC in both field goal percentage (48.0 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (39.9 percent) and also average an SSC-best 10 made three-pointer per game, which is 11th nationally in this week's latest NCAA Division II statistics. Defensively, the Mocs are holding their foes to 41 percent shooting from the floor and 34 percent shooting from distance and lead the league in blocked shots as they average 4.7 per game.
Leading the way for Rollins is senior forward Dave Diakite. Diakite, who played two seasons at UCF before transfering last year to Rollins, is averaging 14.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and 34 percent from long distance and has scored in double figures in 12 games and has posted two double-doubles, while senior guard Kyle McClanahan, who played at Florida from 2008-11, is averaging 13.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game and has tallied 13 double figure scoring games and is shooting 57 percent from the field and is second in the league in 3-point shooting (48.6 percent) and free throw shooting (84.6 percent). The third double figure scorer for the Tars is senior forward Adam Allen. Allen, who is also a former Florida Gator as he played at UF from 2007-11, is averaging 10.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 47 percent from both the field and 3-point line and is third in the league in made three-pointers per game at 2.5.
The Tars are under the direction under the direction of 33-year head coach Tom Klusman. Klusman, who is the longest tenured active coach in the league, has compiled a 604-333 record at his alma mater. In his time with the Tars, Klusman has led Rollins to 25 winning seasons, 12 seasons with 20 or more wins, eight SSC titles, four SSC Tournament titles and eight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including four appearances in the last seven seasons.
Rollins' defense will be tested on Wednesday by Florida Southern's top-ranked offensive unit that is eighth in Division II in scoring at 85.9 points per game. The Mocs have scored 90 or more points in four consecutive games and has scored 75 or more points in 14 of 16 games this season. Additionally, the Mocs are outscoring its foes by a little over 12 points per game and have held 10 of its 16 opponents under 75 points. The Mocs are shooting 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line and lead the SSC in steals (11.8), assists (17.3), assist/turnover margin (1.3) and turnover margin (+8.0). FSC also is second in Division II and sixth in all of NCAA men's basketball in turnover margin.
The Mocs enter Wednesday's contest with four players averaging in double figures led by junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Lane, who was named this week's SSC Player of the Week presented by VALIC, is averaging 15.3 points and 6.6 boards per game and has had three double-doubles and has posted double figures in 14 games, including six straight double-digit scoring contests, while senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) is averaging 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game and leads the SSC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). Over his last five games, Evans is averaging 15.8 points and is shooting 54 percent from the field and 47 percent from long distance and has had 12 double-digit scoring games.
Along with Lane and Evans, sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) is third on the team in scoring as he averages 12.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and 81 percent at the free throw line and has scored in double figures in seven straight games and 12 times overall on the season and senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) is averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field and over his last five games is averaging 10.4 points and 6.2 boards per game. ÂÂ
Following Wednesday's game, the Mocs will return to Jenkins Field House to open the second half of SSC play on Saturday, Feb. 2 as they host Lynn (10-7 overall, 2-5 SSC) in a 7:30 p.m. contest. The Mocs opened SSC play with a 61-56 win in Boca Raton over the Fighting Knights on Dec. 1.
Live stats will be available here: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=11992
Live FSC audio broadcast of the game will be available here: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com
Rollins Game Notes
