Box Score
Printable SSC Tournament Bracket
LAKELAND - The 14th-ranked Florida Southern Moccasins wrapped up regular season here Saturday evening by posting a 76-73 win over Rollins in Sunshine State Conference action on Senior Night at Jenkins Field House.
With the victory, the Mocs, who improved to 21-5 overall and 12-4 in the SSC, earned a share of its 20th regular season SSC title and first title since the 2010 season. FSC shares the title with Saint Leo, who was idle on Saturday, but the Lions also finished 12-4 in SSC play. SLU, though, earns the No. 1 seed in next week's SSC Tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee thanks to its two regular season victories over the Mocs.
The Mocs earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will open up play on Friday, March 8 against No. 7 seed Barry (13-13 overall, 6-10) at 5 p.m. The Mocs took both of its games during the regular season from the Buccaneers as they posted a 96-70 win in Lakeland on Jan. 5 and then earned a 98-78 victory in Miami Shores on Feb. 6.
Prior to the beginning of Saturday's game, the Mocs honored its five member senior class in a pregame ceremony. The seniors this year for the Mocs are forward Brett Bailey (Davie, Fla.), guard Seth Evans (Marseilles, Ill.), forward Jon Gardner (Anderson, Ind.), guard Jay Hubble (Pendleton, Ind.) and forward Brant Leitnaker (Lancaster, Ohio).
FSC, who swept the season series from the Tars for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign, used 25 points, including 14 in the second half from Evans to help rally the Mocs from a 36-29 halftime deficit. The 25 points was three shy of Evans' career high of 28 points set last season against Eckerd and moved the UWGB transfer within 46 points of becoming the 37th member of the Moccasins 1,000 Point Club.
Along with Evans, junior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) also had a hot hand in the second half as he scored 16 of his 19 points after halftime, including hitting a 3-pointer with 3:38 left in the game to push the Mocs to a 68-63 lead after Rollins' Kyle McClanahan hit a trey with a little under four minutes remaining to pull the Tars within 65-63.
Lane's trey ignited a 9-4 Moc run that pushed its lead to 74-67 with 1:51 left in the game. The Tars, though, wouldn't go away quietly as Brett Chance hit a trey and McClanahan completed a three-point play with a lay-up and free throw to drop FSC's lead to 74-73 with 34 seconds remaining.
McClanahan did all he could do to help Rollins (17-9 overall, 9-7 SSC) in the second half as the former Gator scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half, including scoring 10 of the Tars final 16 points.
Evans would complete the game's scoring by hitting two free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Evans finished 11-for-11 from the foul line in the game.
The Tars had a chance to send the game into overtime by a three-pointer by Adam Allen with six seconds left was short and an ensuing trey attempt by Dave Diakite was also missed at the buzzer to seal the Mocs 13th home win of the season. FSC posted a 13-3 home record this season.
In addition to Evans and Lane, junior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) had nine points and seven boards, while Bailey also tallied nine points and had five boards in the win.
Along with McClanahan's 21 points, Mitch Woods added 17 points, including scoring 10 of those points in the first half and Diakite had 12 points and eight boards in the loss.
In the first half, Rollins used 54 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent shooting from the 3-point line to jump out to a 36-29 lead at the half. FSC shot 29 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point land in the first half
The Tars jumped out to a 19-11 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the contest, before the Mocs used a 9-0 run capped by two Evans free throws to take a 20-19 lead. Rollins, though, answered with an 12-3 run capped by a three-point play from Diakite to push out to a 31-23 lead with 2:46 left in the half.
Both teams would trade 3-point baskets, before McKnight scored on a lay-up and hit a free throw to complete a 3-point play to drop Rollins' lead to 34-29 with 51 seconds left. The Tars would close the first half scoring on a basket by Chris Uhle with 32 seconds left to take its seven point halftime lead.
For the game, FSC shot 42 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point, but was helped by a 22-for-27 effort (82 percent) at the free throw line, while Rollins shot 58 percent from the field and 48 percent from long distance. The Tars only went to the foul line seven times and hit six of those shots.
FSC finished with a 32-22 edge on the glass, including collecting 14 offensive boards that led to a 19-3 edge in second chance points and forced Rollins into 14 turnovers that led to 17 points in the win. FSC committed 11 turnovers on the night.
Listed below is the 2013 SSC Tournament schedule.
2013 SSC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
Opening Round - Wednesday, March 6
Game 2 - 7:30 p.m. - No. 8 Lynn (11-15 overall, 3-13 SSC) vs. No. 9 Tampa (16-13 overall, 3-13 SSC)
Men's Quarterfinals - Friday, March 8
Game 7 - 12:00 p.m. - No. 4 Florida Tech (16-10 overall, 9-7 SSC) vs. No. 5 Rollins (17-9 overall, 9-7 SSC)
Game 8 - 2:30 p.m. - Game 1 Winner vs. No. 1 Saint Leo (20-6 overall, 12-4 SSC)
Game 9 - 5:00 p.m. - No. 2 Florida Southern (21-5 overall, 12-4 SSC) vs. No. 7 Barry (13-13 overall, 6-10 SSC)
Game 10 - 7:30 p.m. - No. 3 Eckerd (19-6 overall, 11-5 SSC) vs. No. 6 Nova Southeastern (15-11 overall, 7-9 SSC)
Men's Semifinals - Saturday, March 9
Game 13 - 5:00 p.m. - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner
Game 14 - 7:30 p.m. - Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner
Men's Final - Sunday, March 10
Men's Championship - 3:30 p.m. - Game 13 Winner vs. Game 14 Winner
