Box Score
LAKELAND - Florida Southern opened up a three-game homestand here Tuesday evening by posting a 94-75 victory over Puerto Rico-Bayamon in non-conference action at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins, who improved to 6-0 on the season with the win, used 55 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent shooting from the 3-point line and had four players reach double figures in improving to 13-0 all-time against the Vacqueros and extending its regular season non-conference win streak to 12 straight games dating to last season's 91-89 loss to St. Cloud State in its first game of the FSC/Ledger Media Group Classic. UPR-Bayamon, who earlier this season defeated preseason No. 6 ranked USC-Aiken, 60-55, fell to 3-7 on the season.
FSC's 6-0 start is its 16th in school history and first since the 2009-10 squad opened the season by winning its first 13 games en route to finishing the year with a 25-5 record.
In Tuesday's game, the Mocs took control of the action in the opening nine minutes of the second half as they turned its 44-32 halftime lead to a 75-41 advantage following a basket by redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.). During the 31-9 run, the Mocs hit nine of its first 10 shots and 13-for-16 overall during the spree, including 10 points from senior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Lane finished the game with a team-best 18 points.
"I thought we did a good job to do moving the ball on offense and getting some very good shots," Moccasins head coach Linc Darner said. "I also thought we guarded better in the second half, but we need to do a better job of guarding the dribble and locking team's down defensively."
Following the Mocs run to open the second half, UPRB used a 10-0 run over the next two-plus minutes to cut a 34-point deficit to 24 points at 75-51 following a three-pointer from Carlos Ramos. The Vacqueros' run was aided by three consecutive lay-ups from Jeshua Ayala, Jose Isaac and Hamilton Rullan.
"We were able to get out to a big lead early in the second half, and then we let them back in the game," said Darner, who improved to 162-66 in his eighth season with the Mocs. "It is a good win for our team, but we need to be able to put teams away when we get out to a big lead."
The Mocs, though, would respond with a 12-9 run to push its lead back to 27 points at 87-60 following a lay-up by junior forward Bubby Johnson (Waldorf, Md.) with 3:35 left in the game. UPRB would answer with a 7-2 run capped by a another Ramos three-pointer to pull within 89-67 with 2:27 left in the game.
FSC would come back with a trey from sophomore walk-on guard Alex McClanahan (Maitland, Fla.) and two free throws from sophomore walk-on guard Melique Hill (Tampa, Fla.) to push its lead to 94-67 with 49 seconds remaining. Hill's two free throws were the first two points of his collegiate career as he didn't score in the eight games he played last season and hadn't scored in only game he had seen action in this season before Tuesday night.
The Vacqueros, who fell 65-49 at Rollins on Monday night, would close out the game by scoring the final eight points to cut the final margin to 19 points.
In addition to Lane, junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) scored 13 points, dished out four assists and had three steals, while senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) chipped in with 12 points and six boards and junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) added 11 points and a season-high nine assists as the Mocs dished out 25 assists on its 35 made field goals.
Johnson, Putman and senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) each scored eight points in the win as the Mocs scored a season high 94 points.
The game was close in the opening eight minutes of the game until the Mocs used an 18-7 run to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 29-19 lead with 8:42 left in the half. The run was capped by a trey from Lane. FSC's lead would grow to 12 points following a lay-up from Battle with 5:16 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. UPRB, though, would answer with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back lay-ups from Hamilton Rullan to pull within 36-30. Rullan scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half.
FSC would score the next eight points to push out to a 44-30 advantage following a lay-up and free throw to complete a three-point play by McKnight with 1:09 left. Rullan's lay-up with 44 seconds gave the Mocs its 44-32 halftime lead. ÂÂ
"I thought (Bayamon) caused us some problems in the first half with their match-ups on the floor," the Mocs coach added. "We knew they were a good team and would be ready to play."
Along with Rullan, Ramos also tallied 20 points and Ayala added 15 points and six boards in the loss.
The Mocs finished the game with a 36-31 edge on the glass and forced 21 turnovers that led to 34 points. FSC committed 18 turnovers for the game, including 11 in the second half.
UPRB finished the night shooting 48 percent from the floor and 29 percent from the 3-point and hit just 12 of its 23 free throws (52.2 percent). The Mocs connected on 15 of its 17 free throws (88.2 percent) on the night.
FSC will return to action this weekend as they host its annual FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic at Jenkins Field House. The Mocs will begin play in the two-event on Friday, Nov. 29 against Stillman at 7:30 p.m., while 22nd-ranked North Alabama will open the tournament with a 5:15 p.m. game on Friday against St. Joseph's (Ind.). St. Joseph's is coached by former Moccasin assistant coach Tom Church, while North Alabama is the team the Mocs defeated in the first round of last season's NCAA Division II South Regional in Lakeland.
"It should a great weekend for basketball. We have three very good teams that like to put up points coming in, so the fans will see a lot of excitement," Darner said about this weekend's tournament.
