LAKELAND - Florida Southern is set to begin the stretch run of Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday, Feb. 20 as the sixth-ranked Moccasins hit the road for a 7:30 p.m. match-up against Eckerd at McArthur Center on the Eckerd College campus.
The Mocs, who have four SSC games remaining in the regular season, enters Wednesday's action having won 10 of its last 11 games with its only loss being a 79-75 setback at home last Wednesday against then 16th-ranked Saint Leo. The loss to SLU snapped the Mocs season high nine game winning streak.
FSC started a new win streak last Saturday as the Mocs picked up a 91-70 victory at Palm Beach Atlantic in its final non-conference game of the 2012-13 season. The win over PBA improved to Mocs to 19-3 overall and they are one victory shy of achieving its sixth consecutive 20 win campaign.ÂÂ
The Mocs enter this week's action sitting in first place in the SSC with a 10-2 record after Saint Leo, who was tied for the league lead after picking up the win over FSC, fell 76-50 last Saturday at Florida Tech to fall to 10-3 in the league standings.
Meanwhile, Eckerd enters Wednesday's game having won two straight games and seven of its last nine since falling on the road to FSC (93-82) on Jan. 16. The Tritons only losses during this stretch have come at home as they fell in overtime to Rollins (69-66) on Feb. 2 and they suffered a 70-69 loss to Florida Tech on Feb. 9. Since the loss to Tech, the Tritons have picked up road wins over Tampa in overtime (71-65) and at Barry (71-66) last Saturday.
Wednesday's game will mark the 95th meeting all-time in the series between the two schools and the second this season as the Mocs hold a 62-32 edge all-time, including picking up its 93-82 win earlier this season in Lakeland. Eckerd has won three of the last five meetings in the series, but the Mocs two wins have come at home. Seventh-year Moc coach Linc Darner is 8-6 all-time against Eckerd. The Mocs haven't won at Eckerd since picking up a 78-74 win in overtime on Feb. 10, 2010.
Eckerd, who was tabbed to finish third in the Preseason SSC poll, is led by the play of senior forward Darrien Mack. Mack, who has won two SSC Player of the Week honors this year and was named the Division II Bulletin Player of the Month in January, is third in the league in scoring (17.8 per game) and leads the SSC in rebounding (8.0 per game) and has had 18 double-digit scoring efforts, including six straight games with at least 10 points. In addition to Mack, junior guard Alex Bodney is averaging 11.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game and is shooting 39 percent from the field, 38 percent from the 3-point line and is second in the SSC in free throw shooting at 88 percent and senior guard Woody Taylor is averaging 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists, which is second in the SSC and Taylor is shooting 42 percent from the floor and leads the league in free throw shooting at 94 percent.
The Tritons are under the direction of 17-year head coach Tom Ryan. Ryan, who is the fourth longest tenured active coach in the SSC, has compiled a 322-168 record at his alma mater. Only Rollins' Tom Klusman (33 years), Tampa's Richard Schmidt (30 years) and Barry's Cesar Odio (19 years) are the only longer active head coaches in the league.
As a team, Eckerd is averaging 71.5 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and is second in the SSC in free throw shooting at 75.2 percent. On defense, EC allows 68.0 points per game and is third in the league in field goal percentage defense (40.7 percent) and is third in the SSC in blocked shots (3.1 per game).
In the team's earlier meeting this season in Lakeland, the Mocs scored 54 points and shot 50 percent from the 3-point line to turn a 43-39 halftime deficit into a 93-82 win. FSC opened the second half on a 10-5 run and took its first lead of the game on a trey by senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) with 17:58 left in the game. The Mocs would eventually push its lead to as much at 17 points following a free throw by sophomore guard Cameron Vines (Columbus, Ohio) with 1:35 remaining in the contest.
Evans led four Mocs in double figures with 17, while sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) each had 15 points and junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished with 12 points in the win. The Tritons were paced by Mack, who finished with 24 points and 16 boards. Eckerd held a 44-39 edge on the glass in the game, but committed 21 turnovers that led to 21 FSC points.
Meanwhile, the Mocs enter Wednesday's game as one of the top scoring teams in the country as they are averaging 87.0 points per game, which is sixth nationally in Division II and the Mocs have tallied 75 or more points in 11 straight games, including a stretch of seven consecutive 90 point games that began against Eckerd on Jan. 16 and was snapped against Nova Southeastern on Feb. 9. In addition, the Mocs lead the SSC and are 10th nationally in scoring margin (+13.0), are second in the SSC in field goal percentage (46.5 percent) and third in the league in made three-pointers (8.3 per game). FSC also leads the SSC in assists (18.2), turnover margin (+7.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and is second in steals (11.1 per game).
Leading the way for the Mocs is Evans and Lane. Evans is averaging 15.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game and leads the SSC in both 3-pointers made per game (2.9) and assist/turnover ratio (2.6) and is shooting 40.4 percent from downtown, while Lane is averaging 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and has recorded a team-best three double-doubles. Evans has scored in double figures in 19 games and Lane has reached double figures in 18 contests.ÂÂ
Along with Evans and Lane, two other Mocs are averaging in double figures as Capers is averaging 12.3 points and is shooting 50 percent from the field and 77 percent at the free throw line and he has scored in double digits in 17 games, while Bailey, who needs just 19 points to become the 36th Moccasin to score 1,000 career points, is averaging 11.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is shooting an SSC-best 59 percent from the field and has connected on 26 of his last 35 field goal attempts. ÂÂ
Following Wednesday's game, the Mocs will home to Jenkins Field House to host Florida Tech (12-10 overall, 5-7 SSC) in a 7:30 p.m. SSC contest. The Panthers, who play at Lynn on Wedneday night, are one of the hottest teams in the league has they have won five straight games entering its 7:30 p.m. game on Wednesday at Lynn. The Mocs earned a 95-92 win at Florida Tech on Jan. 26.
Live stats will be available here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/eckerd/mbball/scoreboard.aspx.
Live audio broadcast of the game will be available here: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com.
Eckerd Game Notes
