Box Score
LAKELAND - Fourth-ranked Florida Southern closed out its season-long five-game homestand here Wednesday evening by collecting an 84-55 victory over Eckerd in Sunshine State Conference play in front of a season-high crowd of 1,388 fans at Jenkins Field House.
Wednesday's victory improved the Moccasins to 14-0 on the season and ran its SSC record to 3-0. The victory also extended its home court win streak to 13 straight games and ran its win streak in SSC play to five consecutive games dating to last season.
The 14-0 start by the Mocs is the best for the team since the 2002-03 squad opened the season by winning its first 16 games en route to finishing with a 26-5 overall. The 14-0 start is the sixth in school history.
In Wednesday's game, the Mocs got off to a strong start on the offensive end of the floor and then used an outstanding defensive effort to cruise past the Tritons and remain the only undefeated team left in SSC play. Eckerd fell to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the SSC with the loss.
"I thought we played very well defensively the entire game, especially in the first half," Mocs head coach Linc Darner said following his team's ninth home win of the season. "We were able to take them (Eckerd) out of their offense and make them make some tough shots."
Eckerd's 55 points scored were the fewest points allowed by the Mocs this season in a game. Prior to Eckerd's 55, the previous low was 57 points scored by Benedict on Nov. 21. In addition, the 55 points were a season low for the Tritons.
The Mocs jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the opening three minutes of the game, before Eckerd used a 6-2 run thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Jerrick Stevenson and Kendall Roberts to drop FSC's lead to 10-9 with 14:28 left in the first half. That would be as close as Eckerd would get in the game as the Mocs answered with a 22-11 run capped by a three-pointer from junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) to push out to a 32-21 lead with 7:19 remaining in the opening half.
After Stevenson scored the next four points to push the Tritons within seven at 32-25, the Mocs would close out the first half on a 17-4 run to go into halftime with a 49-29 lead.
The first half closing run was keyed by 13 combined points from Capers and senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio). McKnight would score the Mocs final seven points of the half, including hitting a 3-pointer with seven seconds left and Capers would tallied six points during the run.
"To score 49 points in a half against Eckerd is amazing. They are a very good defensive team," the Mocs coach added.
Capers led the way offensively for the Mocs as he finished with 16 points and five assists off the bench, while McKnight added 13 points and eight boards off the bench in the win. In the victory, FSC's bench scored four less points (51) than Eckerd's entire team. The Mocs held a 51-14 edge in bench points.
"We have 11 guys that can all play and can all score," Darner said. "I thought our depth wore them (Eckerd) them out tonight." On the night, all 14 Mocs that were suited up played in the game, including 10 players playing double figure minutes.
Trailing 49-29 at the half, Eckerd opened the second half on a 10-4 run to trim FSC's lead to 53-39 following a free throw by Stevenson with 13:36 left in the game.
That would be as close as the Tritons would get, though, as the Mocs used 24-9 run capped by a basket from redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) to push its lead to 29 points at 77-48 with 5:02 remaining.
The Mocs lead would eventually grow to as much as 31 points on two different occasions in the final two minutes of the game, before Eckerd's Brian Cobb completed the game's scoring with a lay-up with 17 seconds left in the contest.
In addition to Capers and McKnight, senior guard Dominic Lane (St. Petersburg, Fla.) added 10 points, while Putman and sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) each had eight points. Junior forward Bubby Johnson (Waldorf, Md.) and Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) each tallied seven points on the night.
Eckerd, who has now lost seven consecutive games against the Mocs in Lakeland, was paced by 20 points and seven rebounds from Stevenson, while Alex Bodney added eight points in the loss.
The Mocs finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line and hit 81 percent (13-for-16) of its foul shots, while Eckerd shot 38 percent from the field, 23 percent from the 3-point line and 46 percent (10-for-22) at the free throw line.
One of the biggest differences in the game was turnovers as the Mocs forced Eckerd into 27 on the night that led 26 points, including a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers in the second half. Eckerd committed 15 turnovers in the second half. The Mocs finished with just 13 turnovers.
The Tritons won the battle on the boards on the night as they outrebounded the Mocs, 44-40, but FSC collected 11 steals and dished out 21 assists on 32 made baskets. Junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) led the way with a game-high six assists.
FSC will look to remain undefeated as they begin a two-game road swing in SSC play on Saturday, Jan. 11 with a 4 p.m. game at Lynn (6-6, 0-2 SSC), who fell 62-57 at home to Nova Southeastern on Wednesday.
