COLUMBIA, S.C. - Fifth-ranked Florida Southern is set to embark on a two-game road trip beginning here Thursday evening with a South Region contest against Benedict College, before traveling to Savannah, Ga., for an afternoon match-up on Saturday, Nov. 23 against Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Thursday's game at Benedict is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. at the Benjamin Mayes Human Resources Center Arena on the Benedict campus, while Saturday's game at Armstrong will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. at Alumni Arena on the Armstrong campus.
The Moccasins enter this week's two game road trip sporting a 3-0 overall record after opening the 2013-14 campaign with back-to-back wins at the "Down in the Delta" Challenge hosted by Delta State University and held in Cleveland, Miss., on Nov. 9-10 against Delta State (89-66) and Arkansas-Monticello (81-71) and then opening the home portion of its schedule with a hard-fought come-from-behind 89-83 win over Warner last Friday.
FSC has started 3-0 for just the 26th time in school history and first time since winning its first 13 games to open the 2009-10 season. In addition, FSC has opened the season 3-0 for the eighth time since the beginning of the 2000-01 season.
The Mocs are 2-0 away from home on the season and the Mocs have won 10 straight regular season non-conference games since suffering a 91-89 loss to St. Cloud State in its opening game of last season's Ledger Media Group/Terrace Hotel Classic that was held on Thanksgiving weekend. Since that loss to St. Cloud State, the Mocs won its final seven non-conference games last season and have won its first three non-conference contests this season.
FSC will face two strong tests this weekend to keep that non-conference winning streak going as on Thursday, the Mocs will face a Benedict team that earned 25 votes in this week's first regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll and advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Division II South Regional in Lakeland and were picked to repeat as champion in the Preseason SIAC Coaches' Poll, while on Saturday, the Mocs face off against an Armstrong team that enters having won three of its first games this year and has posted winning records in seven of the last nine seasons overall.
"This will be a strong test this weekend for our team. We are facing two very quality opponents and we'll need to play better than we played last Friday against Warner," Moccasins head coach Linc Darner said. "Benedict is a very good team that is favored to win its league and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament and Armstrong beings back seven players from last season's team that won 15 games a year ago in a very good league."
The match-up on Thursday with Benedict will mark the second-ever meeting between two of the top four winningest teams in the South Region since the beginning of the 2009-10 season as the Mocs are second on the list with 98 wins, while Bendict is fourth with 84 victories. FSC won the team's only meeting, 78-71 last season in Lakeland.
Benedict enters Thursday's match-up having won its first two games of the season, including earning a 61-54 home win on Monday over Nova Southeastern. The Tigers welcome back one starters and a handful of returners from last season's 24-7 squad. Benedict 12th-year head coach Fred Watson has led the Tigers to 10 consecutive winning seasons and has compiled a 232-92 record at his alma mater, including leading Benedict to seven 20-plus win seasons.
Leading the way for the Tigers is junior guard Andrew Crawford. Crawford, who was the South Carolina Class 2A Player of the Year as a senior in high school and is a transfer from USC-Salkehatchie, is averaging 18.0 points per game and is shooting 55 percent from the field, 64 percent (7-of-11) from the 3-point line and 88 percent at the line. Along with Crawford, senior forward Lynden Davis is averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 boards per game and is shooting 56 from the field, while senior forward Alex Brailsford is averaging 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game and is shooting 47 percent from the floor, 50 percent from lond distance and is coming off a 15 point, eight rebound effort against NSU.
Other key performers for Benedict are junior forward Deonte Johnson (7.5 points, 50 percent field goal percentage), junior guard Johnny Ellis (6.5 points, 37 percent 3-point shooting) and senior guard Brennan Reynard (4.5 points, 3,5 rebounds, 5.0 assists) and is shooting 67 percent from the field. Reynard was named a Preseason All-SIAC selection.
Meanwhile, Armstrong Atlantic comes into Saturday's meeting with the Mocs sporting a 3-1 record as the Pirates have won two straight games sine suffering a 94-72 loss at Newberry on Nov. 10. Since that loss, the Pirates picked up wins at last weekend's Valdosta State Classic over Carver Bible (84-78) and Florida Memorial (74-52).
The Mocs are facing Armstrong for the 13th time in school history on Saturday with FSC is leading the series, 10-2. The Mocs have won six straight in the series since the Pirates picked up a 61-58 win in Savannah on Nov. 25, 2006. Darner is 5-0 all-time against Armstrong and Saturday's meeting will be the fourth between the two schools last two-plus seasons.
The Pirates return two starters and seven lettermen from last season's 15-12 squad that advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009-10, but must replace All-American guard Aric Miller, who averaged 23.7 points per game last season as a senior. His 23.7 points per game average was sixth-best in Division II. Miller scored 28 points in the Pirates 99-77 loss to the Mocs in Lakeland last season.
Leading the way for Armstrong through the first four games is senior guard/forward Hichem Benayad-Cherif, who is averaging 23.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field, 47 percent from the 3-point line and 74 percent at the foul line. Benayrd-Cherif, who is a transfer from IPFW, has scored in double figures in all four games, including three games with 20 or more points. In addition to Benayad-Cherif, junior guard Emmanuel Tiluscar is averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field and 56 percent from long distance, while junior forward Montel Baines is averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 52 percent from the field and 84 percent at the line.
Other key performers for the Pirates, who were tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason PBC Coaches' Poll, are senior guard Kenny Bellinger II (8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists), senior forward Eric Eversley (8.3 points, 8.3 rebounds) and junior guard Kyle Callanan (5.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 43 percent 3-point shooting).
The Pirates are coached by Evans Davis, who was named the program's interim head coach in early August after former head coach Jeremy Luther stepped down for an assistant coaching position at Gardner-Webb. Davis spent the past four seasons on Luther's staff as an assistant coach.
FSC, who has scored over 80 points in all three games this season and is averaging a Sunshine State Conference best 86.3 points per game, enters this week's two games shooting 48 percent from the floor, 31 percent from the 3-point line and 68 percent at the free throw line and are outscoring its foes by a +13.0 margin as their opponents are averaging just 73.3 points per contest. Another strength of the Mocs is their ability to force turnovers on defense and take care of the ball on offense as they enter the Benedict game with a +3.0 turnover margin as they have forced their foes into 16.3 turnovers per game and are averaging just 13.3 turnovers on offense. In addition, FSC also holds a +6.7 edge on the glass, including outrebounding Warner by 21 boards (57-36) last Friday. ÂÂ
Leading the way for the Mocs offensively early on this season are junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.), junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) and senior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Capers leads the team in scoring as he is averaging 17.7 points per game and is shooting 70 percent from the field and he has reached double figures in all three games this season and four times overall dating to last season, while Battle is averaging 13.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 79 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 73 percent at the line and is coming off a career-high 23 point effort in his last outing against Warner and Lane is averaging 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 41 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line. Lane has reached double figures in two of three games this year.
Other key players for the Mocs this year are senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio), redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.), sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) and junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio). McKnight is averaging 9.0 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field, while Putman is averaging 8.7 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game and is coming off a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds against Warner, Williams and Kelly are each averaging 7.3 points per game. Williams is pulling down 5.0 boards per contest and Kelly is averaging a team-best 3.3 assists per game.
Following the two-game road swing, the Mocs will return home to close out the month of November with three straight home games beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 26 as the Mocs host Puerto Rico-Bayamon at 7:30 p.m., before facing Stillman on Friday, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic at Jenkins Field House. The other game in the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic will pit 14th-ranked North Alabama against St. Joseph's (Ind.) at 5:15 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 30, Friday's losing teams will meet in the consolation game at 5:15 p.m, while the two winners will meet in the championship game at 7:30 p.m.
Complete Benedict/Armstrong Atlantic State Game Notes
