No. 8 Moccains Look to Extend Home Streak to 11 Against Nova Southeastern

LAKELAND - Florida Southern will put its season-high eight-game winning streak on the line here Saturday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Moccasins host Nova Southeastern in a 3 p.m. Sunshine State Conference match-up at Jenkins Field House.

The Moccasins, who are 17-2 overall on the season, are sitting atop the league standings with a 9-1 mark after posting a 98-78 win on Wednesday at Barry. In addition to extending its win streak to eight straight with its win at Barry on Wednesday, the Mocs also have won 10 consecutive home games since falling on a half-court buzzer-beater to St. Cloud State in its first game of the 9th-Annual FSC Ledger Media Group/Terrace Hotel Classic on Nov. 23.

FSC, who enters the game having scored 90 or more points in a school record seven consecutive games after tallying 98 against Barry, began its current eight game win streak with a 78-68 win at NSU on Jan. 12. The win at NSU came three days after FSC fell 71-63 at Saint Leo for just its second loss of the season.

Meanwhile, NSU comes into the game reeling as they have lost three straight games to drop its record to 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the SSC. The Sharks, like the Mocs opened the first half of league play with five of its first eight SSC games on the road. NSU's latest loss in this stretch came at home on Wednesday night as the Sharks fell 63-59 to Eckerd.

Saturday's game will mark the 25th meeting all-time between the two teams, including the second meeting this season, as FSC holds a commanding 19-5 edge in the series. FSC has won two straight games in the series and nine of its last 10 meetings with the Sharks only win coming in Fort Lauderdale last season as they defeated the Mocs 90-79. The Mocs holds a 12-1 lead in Lakeland and also lead 7-4 at NSU. Mocs coach Linc Darner is 11-4 against the Sharks, including being 7-1 at home against NSU. 

Nova Southeastern, who was tabbed to finish fifth in the Preseason SSC poll, comes into this weekend's action second in the SSC in both free throw shooting (74.1 percent) and 3-point field goals made (9.1) and is fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (36.4 percent). As a team, they are averaging 70.3 points per game and are shooting 44 percent from the field and is getting outscored by less than two points per game. On defense, the Sharks are allowing its opponents to score 71.7 point per game and shoot 45 percent from the field and 36 percent from downtown.

Leading the way for the Sharks is senior forward Iran Hollis. Hollis, who has collected four double-doubles on the season, is averaging 11.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field. In addition to Hollis, sophomore guard Brian Cahill is averaging 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field, 44 percent from long distance and 81 percent at the line and senior forward Lukas Roesch is averaging 10.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 47 percent from the floor.

The Sharks are under the direction of ninth-year head coach Gary Tuell, who has compiled a 112-128 record at NSU and is 422-333 in his 19th season as a collegiate head coach.

In the team's earlier meeting this season, the Mocs scored 78 points and shot 43 percent from the field, but just 22 percent (6-for-27) from the 3-point line in the game. FSC led by as much as 19 points early in the second half, before NSU cut the lead to five points with less than four minutes remaining, before the Mocs closed the game on a 10-5 run to seal the victory. In the closing run, sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.) combined to hit six consecutive free throws.

Evans was one of four Mocs to score in double figures as he finished with 19 points, while Capers added 17 points. Junior forward Lamar McKnight (Bedford, Ohio) finished with 12 points and junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) had 10 points and seven boards. Senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) pulled down 12 boards for the Mocs.

NSU's challenge on Saturday will be to slow down a Moc offense that is averaging 87.7 points per game and haven't been held under 75 points since scoring 63 points in its loss at Saint Leo. In fact, NSU was the last time to hold the Mocs under 90 points as the Sharks limited FSC to 78 points in the team's earlier meeting. Along with averaging nearly 90 points a game, the Mocs are also shooting 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from long distance and lead the league in scoring margin (+13.6), assists (18.3), steals (11.5), assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and turnover margin (+7.9), which is second-best in Division II and fifth in all of NCAA men's basketball.

Leading the way for the Mocs is Lane and Evans as they are each averaging over 15 points per game as Lane is averaging 15.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and Evans is averaging 15.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game and is connecting on an SSC-best 2.8 treys per game. Other Mocs averaging in double figures include Capers, who is averaging 12.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field and 80 percent at the free throw line and Bailey, who is averaging 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds and is shooting 59 percent from the field and has connected 22 of his last 23 field goals.

Following Saturday's game, the Mocs will remain at home as they host Saint Leo in a 7:30 p.m. SSC showdown on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Saint Leo is the only team to defeat the Mocs so far this season in SSC and is one of only two schools FSC has suffered defeat against on the year.

Live stats will be available here: http://fscmocs.athleticsite.net/livestats/mb/xlive.htm.

Live webcast and audio broadcast of the game will be available here: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com

Nova Southeastern Game Notes