Box Score
BOCA RATON - Fourth-ranked Florida Southern saw it perfect season hanging in the balance here Saturday afternoon as Lynn rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 73 on a 3-pointer by Aaron Harrison with 3:10 remaining the game, but the Moccasins would rally to score 12 of the game's final 13 points to post an 85-74 victory over the Fighting Knights in Sunshine State Conference action at the de Hoernle Center on the Lynn campus.
With the victory, the Mocs extend its win streak to 15 consecutive games and improves to 15-0 on the season and 4-0 in the SSC. The 15-game winning streak is tied with East Stroudsburg for the longest active win streak in Division II men's basketball. Lynn fell to 6-7 overall and 0-3 in the SSC with the loss.
"Lynn made a great run at the end of the game, but I expect that every time we step on the floor," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said. "We are everyone's big game. I really thought our team showed a lot of character down the stretch once Lynn tied the game up and were able to survive with their backs against the wall."
The Fighting Knights used a three-pointer from Aaron Harrison to tie the game at 73 after trailing by as much as 12 points in the second half. Following Harrison's trey, junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) hit two free throws to push FSC's lead to 75-73 and senior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) hit a lay-up with 2:15 left to give the Mocs a 77-73 lead.
FSC's lead grew to 81-73 thanks to back-to-back baskets by senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) and Capers, before Lynn stopped the Mocs run on a free throw by Harrison, who finished 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Knights.
The Mocs would seal the win by hitting four consecutive free throws to post its sixth 15-0 start in program history and first since the 2002-03 squad opened the season by winning its first 16 games. Â
 "It was a big win for our team today. I thought we guarded well today and forced them (Lynn) into a lot of turnovers," said Darner, who is now 13-3 against Lynn as FSC's coach.
The Mocs win was keyed by its ability to force Lynn into turnovers as the Fighting Knights committed 22 in the game and the Mocs scored 31 points off those turnovers, including 17 points off of 13 Lynn turnovers in the first half. FSC finished with just 11 turnovers for the game.
Lynn, who dropped its third straight game, opened the second half on a 9-2 run to turn FSC's 46-36 halftime lead into a 48-45 advantage following a lay-up by Harrison. The Mocs, though, would answer with a 14-7 run to push out to a 62-52 lead. The run was capped by a basket from McKnight, who finished with nine points in the win.
The Fighting Knights would answer with four straight points to push within 62-56 with 10 minutes remaining, before the Mocs used an 8-4 run to push its lead to 70-60 following a free throw by senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 7:24.
From that, point, Lynn began it comeback as Fred Landers scored six straight points to bring LU within 70-66 with 5:59 left. Lane would halt LU's run with a triple from the top of the key to give the Mocs a 73-66 lead with 5:37 remaining.
"That was a big-time shot from Dom at that moment," the Mocs coach added.
Lynn would answer Lane's trey with back-to-back baskets by Harrison and Landers to push within 73-70, before Harrison's trey tied the game for the ninth and final time.
In fact, Harrison and Landers combined to score 27 of Lynn's 38 second half points. Along with Harrison's 22 points, Landers tallied a game-high 28 points, including scoring 19Â after halftime.
Capers led the way offensively for the Mocs as he finished with 24 points off the bench, including going 11-for-13 at the free throw line. In addition to Capers, Lane added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Mocs, while Adams scored 12 points, including tallying 10 of them in the first half.
Neither team was able to gain much control over the game in the opening 10 minutes of the first half, until the Mocs outscored LU, 21-11 over the final eight minutes of the opening half to take a 46-36 lead at the half. In the first half, Capers and Adams combined for 21 points as Capers had 11 and Adams chipped in with 10.
Kaleb Clyburn was the third Lynn player in double figures as he scored 10 points and had five assists in the loss.
The Mocs finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field, but was just 5-for-22 (23 percent) from the 3-point line, while Lynn shot 46 percent from the field and was held to 19 percent (3-for-16) shooting from long distance.
FSC held a 37-35 edge on the glass, including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive boards that led to a 20-4 edge in second chance points.
The Mocs will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 15 as they travel to Saint Leo for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Lions. SLU improved to 13-3 overall and 2-2 in the SSC on the season following its 84-81 win Saturday at Barry.
