Moccasins Defeat Nova Southeastern to Extend Win Streak to Nine Straight

LAKELAND - The eighth-ranked Florida Southern Moccasins extended its win streak to nine straight games here Saturday afternoon as they held a pesky Nova Southeastern squad 81-70 in Sunshine State Conference action at Jenkins Field House.

With the victory, the Mocs improve to 18-2 overall and on the season and 10-1 in the SSC, while NSU suffered its fourth straight defeat and fell to 11-9 overall and 4-7 in the SSC.

Saturday's win also extended the Mocs homecourt win streak to 11 straight wins and its SSC win streak to seven straight games. The Mocs haven't lost since falling 71-63 at Saint Leo on Jan. 9. In addition, the Mocs began its current nine-game win streak with a 78-68 win at NSU on Jan. 13.

"NSU is a really tough team. They do a good job running their offense and they made their shots today," Mocs coach Linc Darner said following the game. "The last time we played them, we didn't play well and we didn't shoot the ball well, but I thought we played better and shot the ball better today."

In the team's first meeting, the Mocs struggled shooting the ball from the 3-point line as they shot 22 percent (6-for-27) from long distance in the 10 point win. 

On Saturday, the Mocs hit 13 three-pointers, including eight in the first half and finished shooting 42 percent from downtown.  

One area Darner was disappointed in on Saturday was his team's carelessness with the basketball as the Mocs committed 18 turnovers. Those 18 turnovers led to 18 points for the Sharks. FSC had 11 of those turnovers in the second half that helped keep NSU within striking distance.

"We were very careless with the basketball," said Darner, who is now 12-4 all-time against NSU.

The Mocs offense had four players in double figures led by senior guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.), who scored 18 points in 37 minutes of action. In addition to Evans, junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and sophomore guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) each added 16 points and junior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) had 13 points in the win.

Evans did most of his damage in the first half as he scored 14 points and hit four treys in the opening half to help the Mocs to a 40-36 halftime lead. Along with Evans, Lane and sophomore guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) combined for 13 points in the first half. 

The Mocs put some separation between themselves and the Sharks in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as they pushed its four point halftime lead to as much as 16 points following a three-pointer by Lane with 10:05 left in the game. Lane's trey, which made the score 67-51, capped a 26-13 run by the Mocs after the Sharks had pulled within 41-38 just 44 seconds into the second half.

From the point, the Sharks chipped away at the Mocs lead as they used a 16-5 run over a span of nearly seven minutes to push within five points at 72-67 following a basket by Maurice Fuller. That would be as close as the visitors would get as Capers answered Fuller's bucket with a fast break layup at the 3:16 mark to help the Mocs begin its 9-3 run to close the game.

Capers scored seven of FSC's nine points during the closing run. The other two points came on a lay-up by senior forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.) with 1:35 left in the game.

Lukas Roesch led the way for NSU as he tallied 19 points, while Iran Hollis scored 17 points and had six boards in the loss. Justin Jeangerard and Brian Cahill both finished with 10 points for NSU.

In the first half, neither team could gain momentum in the opening 12 minutes as there were five ties and three lead changes, but the Mocs were able to gain control following a 15-4 run that gave FSC a 38-27 lead with 4:54 left in the opening half. The run began with a three by Capers and was capped by a three-pointer from Kelly.

The Sharks would answer with a 9-0 run capped by a lay-up from Hollis with 2:11 left to pull within 38-36. McKnight would hit two free throws with 1:56 left in the half to give the Mocs its 40-36 lead at the half.

While the Mocs shot 42 percent from the 3-point line, they finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor and 72 percent at the line. NSU shot 59 percent, including 60 percent from the field and 35 percent from long distance.

FSC held a 29-24 edge on the glass, including collecting 11 offensive boards and had 19 assists on 25 made baskets. Kelly had six assists and Capers added five in the game.

The Mocs will put its 11 game homecourt win streak to a test on Wednesday, Feb. 13 as they host Saint Leo in a 7:30 p.m. SSC match-up at Jenkins Field House. SLU is the last team to defeat the Mocs this season.