Box Score
LAKELAND - Trailing by six points with a little more than 90 seconds left in the game here Saturday evening against Florida Tech, the third-ranked Moccasins rallied to score 12 of the game's final 15 points to post a thrilling come-from-behind 87-85 victory over the Panthers in Sunshine State Conference action at Jenkins Field House.
The win kept the Mocs perfect season intact as they improved to 17-0 overall and 6-0 in the SSC and ran its home court win streak to 14 consecutive games dating to its 83-78 loss last season to Florida Tech. Since that loss to the Panthers last season, the Mocs have posted a 25-1 record with it only other setback being against Western Washington in last year's NCAA Division II Elite Eight national quarterfinals at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. In addition, the victory also extended its win streak in SSC play to nine consecutive games.
"What a great game tonight against two very good teams. Both teams made a lot of big plays, but I thought our crowd helped play a role in our victory," Moccasins head coach Linc Darner said following his team's 10th home win of the season. "The crowd was huge tonight and I thought one of the loudest we've had in a while."
FSC needed every bit of that sixth man on Saturday, especially after senior guard and second leading scorer Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) went down midway through the first half with a foot injury that kept out of action for the remainder of the game.
'It was one of those games tonight, where someone needed to step up and make some plays and I thought a lot of different guys took on that role," said Darner, who is now just three victories shy of 250 career collegiate head coaching wins.
The Mocs closing run began with a lay-up with 1:25 left from senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio). After Tech's Chris Carter missed two free throws with 43 seconds left, junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) pushed the Mocs within three points at 82-79 after hitting 1-of-2 foul shots.
On the ensuing possession, Tech pushed its lead back out to three points at 84-79 following two free throws by David Usic with 37 seconds left. Capers would answer less than three seconds later with a 3-pointer to push the Mocs within a basket at 84-82. The Panthers would take an 85-82 lead after Cameron Stahl hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 33 seconds remaining in the game.
The Mocs, though, would come right back and pull within a point at 85-84 following a lay-up by junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) with 27 seconds left. Tech's Jermaine Jackson had a chance to make it a two possession game with 25 seconds remaining, but he misfired on two straight free throws and McKnight would answer on the other end of the floor with a lay-up with 16 seconds left to give the Mocs an 86-85 lead. That basket by McKnight gave the Mocs its first lead of the game as they had trailed for almost 39-plus minutes on the night.
On Tech's next trip up the floor following McKnight's lay-up, Jackson was called for a charge as he drove to the basket with three seconds remaining and redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) capped the scoring by hitting 1-of-2 free throws to seal FSC's victory.
"I'm not sure how we won the game, but our guys just found a way to win against a very good Florida Tech team," Darner added.
Capers did most of the damage offensively on the night for the Mocs as he tied his career high with 32 points, including tallying 19 of them in the second half to help the Mocs rally from an 11-point deficit just five minutes into the second half. The 32 points moved Capers into 16th place on the school's all-time scoring charts with 1,180 points and is now 20 points shy of becoming the 15th Moccasin to score 1,200 career points.
"Kevin made big play after big play tonight, which was huge for us, especially after Dom went out with his injury," the Moc coach said.
In addition to Capers, Battle finished with 17 points, including scoring 10 after halftime, while senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) added 11 points and six boards and McKnight tallied 10 points and five boards in the win.
The Panthers, who fell to 12-4 overall and 2-3 in the SSC, jumped out to 9-2 lead just six minutes into the game, before the Mocs answered with a 6-2 run to pull within 11-8 after a trey from sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.). Tech, though, would use a 15-12 run to push out to a 26-20 lead following a trey by Akeem Johnson, who finished the night with a career-high 23 points and added seven boards.
FSC would respond with a 9-4 run capped by a Capers lay-up to pull within 30-29 with 5:38 left in the opening half. The Panthers would then use a 9-2 run keyed by seven points from Johnson to push its lead to 39-31 with 2:28 left in the first half.ÂÂ
The Mocs would get back in the game by closing the half on a 10-4 run, including ending the half on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer from junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) to to into halftime trailing 43-41. Kelly finished the night with nine points and five assists for the Mocs.
In addition the Johnson's 23 points, Jermaine Jackson paced the Panthers with a team-high 24 points, while Corbin Jackson added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season before fouling out late in the game and Usic chipped in with 10 points and nine boards.
The Mocs held Carter, who entered the game as the No. 1 scorer in the league at 20.5 points per game, to a season-low eight points and six assists and forced him into six turnovers in the loss.
Tech, who shot 70 percent from the field after halftime, opened the second half on a 17-8 run to push its lead to 60-49 following a jumper by Jermaine Jackson with 12:28 left in the game.
The Mocs would battle back as they used a 7-3 run capped by a Kelly lay-up to push within 63-58 with 9:46 left in the game. Tech, though, responded with a 13-10 run to take a 76-68 lead following a basket by Usic with 4:52 left in the game.
FSC would pull within three points at 78-75 following a 3-pointer by Battle with 3:17 left, before Jermaine Jackson scored on a lay-up with 2:27 left to give the Panthers an 80-75 lead. After Capers hit 1-of-2 foul shots to push the Mocs within four at 80-76, Johnson would answer with two free throws with 1:34 left to give Tech an 82-76 lead.
On the night, Tech finished the game shooting 60 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line and held a 44-30 edge on the glass, but committed 17 turnovers that led to 18 FSC points.
Those points off turnovers proved to be one of the differences in the game as the Mocs finished the game shooting just 42 percent from the field and 23 percent (6-for-26) from the 3-point line. In addition, FSC shot 77 percent (23-for-30) at the line, including a 16-for-19 (84 percent) effort at the line in the first half. The Panthers shot just 55 percent (18-for-33) from the foul line, including going 15-for-24 (54 percent) from the line in the second half.
The Mocs committed a season-low four turnovers and dished out 17 assists on its 29 made baskets.
FSC will look to make its 18 consecutive victories on Wednesday, Jan. 22 as they remain home to host Tampa in a 7:30 p.m. game at Jenkins Field House. The Spartans improved to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the SSC with its 51-46 home win over Lynn on Saturday.
