Mocs Take Home Terrace Hotel Tournament Title With Win Over No. 22 North Alabama

LAKELAND - Fifth-ranked Florida Southern concluded used a 53 point second half here Saturday evening to post a 94-85 win over 22nd-ranked North Alabama in the championship game of the Terrace Hotel Tournament at Jenkins Field House.

With the victory, the Moccasins improved to moved 8-0 for the 13th time in school history and first time since the 2009-10 when the Mocs won its first 13 games to open the season. Along with improving to 8-0 on the season, the Mocs also extended its non-conference regular season win streak to 15 games and its home court win streak to eight consecutive games.

"UNA is a very good team and this was a good win for our basketball team," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following the game. "I thought they (UNA) outhustled and outworked us in the first half, but I thought we played much better in the second half."

The Mocs used a 17-7 run over a span of nearly five minutes in the second half to turn a 50-all tie into a 67-57 lead following a lay-up by redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.). The game was tied at 50 at the first second half media timeout at the 15:59 mark, before FSC used a 7-0 run to take a 57-50 lead. The run was capped by two free throws from junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.).  

Following that run, UNA, who fell to 5-2 on the season, used a 17-12 run over the next five-plus minutes to pull within 79-75 following a lay-up by Lonnie Smith with 5:16 left in the contest. Smith's basket capped a 6-2 run by the Lions.

The Mocs would respond with a 6-1 run keyed by four throws by junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and a lay-up from senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) to take an 85-76 lead with 2:53 remaining in the game. UNA wouldn't go away, though, as the Lions used a 7-2 run capped by a lay-up from Calvin Dade with 43 seconds left to pull within 87-83.

FSC would complete the game's scoring by hitting six of its final seven free throws to seal the victory and improve to 6-1 all-time against the Lions.

Capers once again led the way offensively for the Mocs as he tallied a game-high 22 points, including going 10-for-13 from the foul line. With his 22 points, Capers went over the 1,000 point mark for his career. He entered Saturday's game needing just 16 points to become the 38th member of the 1,000-Point Club. Capers achieved the milestone on a jumper with 11:37 left in the game.

"It is a great honor to score 1,000 points in a career and to do it as a junior is impressive," said Darner, who has now had seven players scored at least 1,000 career points in his eighth season as the Mocs coach. "Kevin a good scorer and he has played well for us this season."

Another Moccasin is approaching the 1,000 point plateau is senior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) as he is now just 71 points shy of the 1,000 point mark after tallying 17 points in Saturday's game.  

In addition to Capers and Lane, senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) chipped in with 13 points and the final Moc in double figures was McKnight as he finished with 12 points. Battle added nine points and five boards in the win and he also had a career-best four steals as FSC collected 14 steals on the night as a team.

In the first half, UNA jumped out to a 14-10 lead just a little over seven minutes into the contest. The Lions led by as much as six points in the opening half until FSC used a 10-4 over the final three minutes of the first half to turn a 37-31 deficit into a 41-41 tie at the half. The Mocs first half closing run was keyed by four points from junior forward Bubby Johnson (Waldorf, Md.) and capped by lay-up and free throw by Lane with five seconds remaining.

Rashaun Claiborne led the way for the Lions with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Dade added 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in the loss. Nathan Spehr finished the night with 15 points and five assists and Bruce Adams chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Mocs finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field, but connected on just one of its 18 3-point attempts as they shot just 5.6 percent from long distance in the game. The one trey in the game came from Adams with 8:02 left in the first half. Following that make, the Mocs closed the game missing their final eight 3-pointers.

UNA shot 39 percent from the field, but just 28 percent from long distance (7-for-25) and committed 21 turnovers that led to a 26-13 edge in points off turnovers for the Mocs. FSC also held a 51-47 edge on the glass in the game, including collecting 23 offensive boards that led to a 28-23 edge in second chance points. UNA had 19 offensive boards on the night.

"I liked the way we attack the offensive glass tonight, especially in the second half," the Mocs coach added. FSC had 13 offensive boards and 16 second chance points in the second half.

Putman led the way on the boards for the Mocs has had 10, including five offensive boards, while Adams had eight and McKnight and Lane each had seven in the win.

The teams made a living at the free throw line in the game as their were a combined 55 fouls called and a combined 71 free throws shot in the game as FSC finished 31-for-45 (69 percent) at the line, including going 21-for-31 at the line in the second half, while UNA was 20-for-26 (77 percent), including shooting just seven free throws after halftime. The Lions were 16-for-19 at the line in the first half. 

FSC will now take a week off before returning to action next Saturday, Dec. 7 as they open Sunshine State Conference play with a 4 p.m. game in Davie, Fla., against Nova Southeastern.