LAKELAND - Florida Southern will put its seven game win streak on the line Wednesday evening as the eighth-ranked Moccasins hit the road for a Sunshine State Conference battle at Barry. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Health and Sports Center on the Barry campus in Miami Shores.
The Mocs, who are playing just its seventh road game of the season and sixth road contest in SSC play, enters the game sporting a 16-2 overall record and is standing in sole possession of first place in the SSC standings with an 8-1 record. FSC hasn't lost since falling 71-63 at Saint Leo on Jan. 9. Since that loss, the Mocs have won seven straight games, including six straight SSC contests and has scored 90 or more points in a school record six straight games.
FSC enters this week's action fresh off a 96-77 win at home on Saturday over Lynn to open the second half of SSC play. The Mocs have won 14 of its last 15 games overall.
Meanwhile, Barry comes into Wednesday's game having won two of its last three games with its only setback being an 83-81 loss in its last outing on Saturday at Florida Tech. Prior to the loss at Florida Tech, the Bucs had posted back-to-back league wins at home against Tampa (75-66) and at Nova Southeastern (68-61). The Buccaneers are sporting a 9-9 overall record and are standing in sixth place in the SSC standings with a 3-6 record.
Wednesday's match-up will mark the 57th meeting all-time in the series between the two schools as FSC holds a 42-14 edge in the series, including collecting a 96-70 win in the team's earlier meeting this season in Lakeland. The Mocs have won four straight games in the series and is looking to sweep the season series from the Bucs for the second straight year. FSC holds a 17-7 lead in the series at Barry and has won four of its last five games in Miami Shores with the only loss being a 77-55 setback on Jan. 8, 2011. Seventh-year Moc coach Linc Darner is 10-5 all-time against Barry, including being 4-2 at Barry.
Barry, who was tabbed to finish eighth in the Preseason SSC poll, is paced by the play of senior guard Justin McCoy. McCoy, who is the No. 8 scorer in the SSC, is averaging 15.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and is shooting 42 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line and has scored in double figures in 17 straight games and is coming off a 21 point effort in the Bucs loss at Florida Tech. In addition to McCoy, who scored 14 points in the first meeting this year against the Mocs, senior forward Aaron Martin is averaging 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 37 percent from both the field and 3-point line and senior guard Chad Renfro is averaging 10.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 36 percent from the field and has reached double figures in five of his last eight games.
The Buccaneers are under the direction of 18th-year head coach Cesar Odio. Odio, who is a 1982 Florida Southern graduate and was the sixth-man on the Mocs 1981 NCAA Division II National Championship team, is 281-234 in his tenure with the Bucs. Odio is sitting out this season as Barry's coach as he continues to recover from his bout with leukemia. In his place, former Miami Hurricane player Orlando Gonzalez is serving as the acting head coach and Gonzalez has compiled a 25-27 record in his third season filling in for Odio as the interim coach.
As a team, the Bucs are scoring 70.9 points per game and are allowing 70.0 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line and is fourth in the league in free throw shooting at 73 percent. One the Bucs biggest strengths is its defense as Barry is fifth in the SSC in field goal percentage defense (42 percent) and is second in the SSC in 3-point field goal defense (32.1 percent) and they are fourth in the league in blocked shots as they average 2.8 per game.
The Bucs defense will be in a for a challenge against Florida Southern's top-ranked offensive unit that is seventh in Division II in scoring at 87.1 points per game. The Mocs have scored 90 or more points in six straight games and have scored 75 or more points in 16 of its 18 games this year. Additionally, the Mocs are outscoring its foes by a little over 13 points per game (+13.2) and have held 11 of its 18 foes under 75 points. FSC is shooting 44 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line and leads the SSC in steals (11.4), assists (18.2), assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and turnover margin (+8.1). The Mocs are also second in Division II and fifth in all of NCAA men's basketball in turnover margin.
FSC has four players averaging in double figures led by junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Lane, who is a two-time SSC Player of the Week presented by VALIC, is averaging 15.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and has posted three double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 16 games, including eight straight double-digit scoring contests, while senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) is averaging 14.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game and leads the SSC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). Over his last five games, Evans, who is tied for the SSC lead in 3-pointers made per game (2.7), is averaging 14.6 points per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from long distance.
Along with Evans and Lane, sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) is third on the team in scoring as he averages 11.9 points and 1.8 steals per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and 81 percent at the foul line and has scored in double figures in 13 games and senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) is averaging 11.4 points and 5.1 boards per game and is shooting 58 percent from the field and has recorded seven double figure scoring games and a double-double. Bailey, who was named this week's SSC Player of the Week presented by VALIC, tied a school record in the win against Lynn as he shot 10-for-10 from the field. The perfect field goal percentage matched the 100 percent field goal set by Donolly Tyrell against Caldwell on Jan. 13, 1988. Bailey enters this week's action having hit 12 consecutive field goals.
In the two team's earlier meeting this season in Lakeland, the Mocs outscored the Bucs, 51-35 in the second half to turn a 10-point halftime lead into a 26 point victory. For the game, the Mocs shot 47 percent from the field and forced Barry into 22 turnovers that led to 22 points. In addition, the Mocs defense held the Bucs to 29 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from the 3-point line.
Evans led way offensively for FSC with 21 points, while Bailey added 20 points and seven boards off the bench and Capers scored 17 points and recorded five steals off the bench. Filip Toric and Martin each scored 15 points for the Bucs in the loss.
Following Wednesday's game, the Mocs will return home to Jenkins Field House for a two-game homestand. The homestand will begin on Saturday, Feb. 9 as the Mocs host Nova Southeastern (11-7 overall, 4-5 SSC) in a 3 p.m. SSC match-up. The Mocs began its current seven game win streak with a 78-68 win at NSU on Jan. 12.  ÂÂ
Live stats will be available here: http://live-stats.barry.edu/mbasketball/xlive.htm
Live FSC audio broadcast of the game will be available here: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com
Complete Barry Game Notes
