Box Score
LAKELAND - Fourth-ranked Florida Southern used a balanced offensive attack and a strong second-half defensive effort here Saturday evening as the Moccasins posted a 93-64 non-conference victory over Palm Beach Atlantic at Jenkins Field House to improve to 10-0 on the season.
With the win, the Mocs extended its homecourt win streak to nine straight games and its non-conference regular season win streak to 16 consecutive game dating to last season. The 10-0 start is the 10th in school history and first since the 2009-10 squad opened the season by winning its first 13 games.
"I thought it was probably the most complete game we've played all season today," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said following his team's fifth home win of the season. "PBA is a good team. It won't be easy when we play them at their place later this season."
In the win, eight players scored seven or more points and 12 of the 13 players that saw action scored at least two points. Sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) led the way offensively for the Mocs as he tallied a career-high 16 points, including 11 points in the first half, off the bench. The Mocs finished the night with a 50-34 edge in bench points.
In addition to Williams, senior guards Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) each scored 11 points, while senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds to give the Mocs with four double-digit scorers. Adams and McKnight combined for 19 points after halftime as Adams scored all 11 of his points in the second half, while McKnight scored eight of his 10.
Three other Mocs scored nine points as redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) tallied nine points and nine boards, while junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) also had nine points and junior forward Bubby Johnson (Waldorf, Md.) scored a career-high nine points. Junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) had seven points, eight boards and five assists in the win.
The Sailfish, who fell to 2-7 with the loss, scored the game's first five points before the Mocs used a 29-8 run over the next nine-plus minutes to take a 29-13 lead following a trey by Putman. Putman's triple capped an 11-0 run for the Mocs.
PBA, though, would respond with a 12-4 run keyed by five points from Ian Sitz and capped by a 3-pointer from Matthew Gierl to drop FSC's lead to 33-25 with 2:38 left in the opening half. The Mocs would answer PBA's run by closing the first half on a 9-4 run to take a 42-29 halftime lead.
The Mocs put the game out of reach in the opening seven-plus minutes of the second half as they used a 22-5 run to push its lead to 64-34 with 12:31 left in the game. The Mocs run was keyed by seven points from Lane and six points from McKnight.
PBA answered with a 7-1 run to drop FSC's lead to 65-41 following a three-pointer from Stefan Dombrowsky with 10:39 left. That would be as close as the Sailfish would get as the Mocs used a 20-13 run to push its lead to 85-54 following a lay-up by Johnson. The 31 point lead was the largest of the game for the Mocs.
"One thing we've talked about this week was putting an opponent away, and today I thought we did a good job of holding onto to our lead," said Darner, who is now 13-2 all-time against PBA. "Last week, we have Nova (Southeastern) down 20 points with 11 minutes to go and we only make two field goals the final 11 minutes of the game."
The Sailfish would use an 8-2 run to drop FSC's lead to 87-62, but the Mocs would close the game with back-to-back three-pointers from freshman forward Stephen Turner (McCordsville, Ind.) and junior walk-on guard Marcanthony Lozano (Bradenton, Fla.). The trey by Lozano were his first three points of his collegiate career.
PBA was held to just 35 points in the second half, including scoring just nine in the opening eight-plus minutes out of the locker room.
Cory Kenning led the way for PBA as he tallied 15 points off the bench, while Ervin Graham added 12 points, six boards and four assists and Christian Martinez scored 10 points off the bench for the Sailfish.
For the game, the Mocs shot 45 percent from the field and 39 percent from the 3-point line and held a 45-35 edge on the glass. In addition, FSC forced 21 turnovers that led to 25 points. The Mocs committed 17 turnovers in the game and dished out 22 assists on 32 made baskets. Battle and junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) each had five in the win.
The Sailfish shot 40 percent from the field and was held to 20 percent (3-for-15) shooting from the 3-point line.
FSC will continue its five-game homestand next Friday, Dec. 20 as they host Shaw (N.C.) for a 7:30 p.m. game, before closing the non-Christmas portion of its schedule on Sunday, Dec. 22 with a 4 p.m. game against Tuskegee.
