Box Score
WINTER PARK - Florida Southern saw its hopes for a perfect season dashed here Wednesday evening as Rollins shot 57 percent from the 3-point line and outscored the second-ranked Moccasins 25-12 over the final two minutes of regulation and overtime to post an 82-76 victory in Sunshine State Conference action at Warden Arena on the Rollins campus.
The loss was the first of the season for the Mocs as they entered the game having won its first 18 games this season to match the best start in school history. FSC fell to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the SSC with Wednesday's setback, while Rollins improved to 9-9 overall and 3-5 in the SSC.
"We didn't play very good at time tonight, especially down the stretch holding onto a 7-point lead," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said following his team's first loss since falling 96-82 in last season's NCAA Division II Elite national quarterfinal game to Western Washington. "Rollins hit a some big shots down the stretch to force overtime and once we got to overtime, we just couldn't finish."
The Mocs led 64-57 with 1:46 left in the regulation when the Tars outscored FSC 7-0 to force a second straight overtime game for the Mocs. FSC needed two overtimes to defeat Tampa at home last Wednesday, 87-83. ÂÂ
After a free throw by junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) gave FSC a 64-57 lead, the Tars would pull within four points thank to a tip-in and ensuing foul shot by Jeff Dirkin with 1:32 left in the game. After Battle committed a turnover on FSC's next possession, Rollins answered on the other end of the floor with a dunk by Mitch Woods to pull within 64-62 with 1:14 remaining in regulation.
Both teams would misfire on three-pointers on their next possessions, before Rollins tied the game with 15 seconds left on a jumper at the elbow by Alex Blessig. Blessig's shot tied the game at 64. He had a chance to give the Tars a one-point lead, but his free throw was short. Junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) misfired on a trey with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
"We get everyone's best shot every time we step on the court and tonight was no different," the Mocs coach said. "Rollins really made a lot of shots tonight that they don't normally make and that is a credit to them."
In overtime, FSC held a 70-66 lead just 80 seconds into the extra session thanks to a lay-up by redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) and four straight points from Capers. After Scott Schuette scored on a three-point play to pull within 70-69, Putman would once again push FSC back up three points on a lay-up with 2:42 left.
Blessig would score 33 seconds later to push Rollins within a point at 72-71, but Putman, who scored six of his 10 points in overtime, scored on another lay-up with 1:53 remaining to give FSC a 74-71 advantage.
The Tars, though, would respond by scoring seven straight points to push out to a 78-74 lead, before senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored on a lay-up with 15 seconds left to bring FSC within a basket at 78-76. Rollins would seal the win by hitting four straight free throws in the final 11 seconds to post its first win over the Mocs since Jan. 28, 2012.
Capers led the way offensively for the Mocs as he finished with 23 points and added five rebounds and six assists. 19 of Capers' 23 points came after halftime. In addition to Capers, junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) added a career-high tying 17 points, while Putman finished with 10 points and junior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) chipped in with eight points and five boards off the bench.
Rollins finished the night shooting 53 percent from the field and 57 percent (12-for-21) from the 3-point line, including shooting 59 percent from the field and 50 percent from long distance in the second half.
"They (Rollins) hit some big three-pointers tonight at key times," the Mocs coach said.
Woods led the way for Rollins as he scored 26 points, including going 10-for-11 from the foul line, while Adam Allen added 17 points and Chris Uhle finished with 11 points in the win.
Rollins, who trailed 32-28 at the half, opened the second half on a 15-8 run to take a 43-40 lead following a trey by Allen with 15:06 left in the contest. Sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) would tie the game at 43 just 28 seconds later on a trey of his own. Following Williams' trey, the Tars would use an 11-5 run to push out to a 54-48 lead following a trey from Schuette.
Capers' would come right back on the ensuing possession and draw contact on a three-point shot attempt and hit all three free throws to jump start a 15-2 run to push FSC out to a 63-56 advantage following a tip-in by Putman with 2:34 left in the game.
The Mocs held a 42-35 edge on the glass, including Adams collecting a game-high 11 boards and they forced Rollins into 15 turnovers that led to 20 points. FSC finished with just 11 turnovers on the night, but the Tars scored 16 points off those miscues.
For the game, FSC shot 40 percent from the field, but was just 8-for-34 (24 percent) from the 3-point line and shot just 63 percent (10-for-16) from the free throw line. FSC entered the game tied for the SSC lead in free throw shooting at 74 percent.
"We didn't do a good job of attacking tonight as I thought at times we settled for jump shots from the perimeter instead of attacking Rollins' zone defense," said Darner, who is now 11-8 against Rollins as FSC's coach.
In the opening half, Rollins jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the opening six-plus minutes of the game thanks to hitting four of its first seven 3-point attempts. Allen hit two of the Tars four treys during the spree.
The Mocs, though, used an 8-2 run capped by a jumper from Putman to take a 17-16 lead. After Rollins retook the lead on a basket by Blessig with 8:07 left in the half, the Mocs used 13-0 run capped by three consecutive 3-pointers to take a 30-18 lead with 3:35 left in the opening half. During the run, Kelly scored eight of FSC's 13 points.
The Tars would close out the half on a 10-2 run to cut the Mocs halftime lead to just four points.
FSC will look to return to begin another win streak on Saturday, Feb. 1 as they open the second half of its SSC slate with a 7:30 p.m. game at Jenkins Field House against Nova Southeastern. FSC opened SSC play with a 79-73 win over the Sharks in Davie, Fla., on Dec. 7. The Sharks improved to 8-11 overall and 5-3 in the SSC on Wednesday night following its 89-63 home win over Saint Leo.
"We have to come back and be ready to play on Saturday night. Nova is very similar to Rollins," Darner added.
