Mocs Fall in Overtime to Saint Leo, Snap 17-Game Home Win Streak

LAKELAND - Florida Southern experienced something it hadn't experienced this season here Wednesday night as the eighth-ranked Moccasins lost for the first time on its home court in almost an entire calendar year as they fell 76-73 in overtime to Saint Leo in Sunshine State Conference at Jenkins Field House.

The loss, which was the Mocs third straight to the Lions at home in the regular season, was FSC's first home setback since falling 83-79 to Florida Tech on Feb. 23, 2013. Since that loss in its second to last regular season home game last season, the Mocs had reeled off 17 consecutive home victories, including posting a 13-0 mark at home this season prior to Wednesday's setback to the Lions. Despite the loss, the Mocs, who have already clinched a share of the regular season SSC title, are still two games up on SLU in the loss column with two games remaining in the regular season. The 17 game home win streak was the fourth longest active streak in Division II men's basketball.

"We still control our own destiny in terms of winning the league outright and getting the No. 1 seed in the SSC Tournament despite the loss tonight," Moccasins head coach Linc Darner said following just his team's third loss of the season. "We are still two games up in the loss column on the second place team with just two games remaining."

Ironically, all three of FSC's losses have come on Wednesday nights and two of those three losses have occurred in overtime, with the other setback being a 94-76 loss at Barry two weeks ago. FSC's other loss this season came in overtime at Rollins (82-76) on Jan. 29. Four of FSC's last five Wednesday games have gone to overtime as they earned a 104-103 win in double overtime last Wednesday at Eckerd and they also earned an 87-83 double overtime home win against Tampa on Jan. 22.

In Wednesday's game, the Mocs, who had its three-game win streak snapped, held a 58-53 lead with 5:41 left in the second half, before SLU (20-6 overall, 8-5 SSC) used an 11-4 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 64-62 lead following a lay-up by Jerrel Harris.

The Mocs (22-3 overall, 11-3 SSC), though, would come right back down the court and tie the game on two free throws from junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) with 54 seconds left in the regulation. Capers, who scored a game-high 27 points, scored 12 of FSC's final 21 points in the second half.

In overtime, after both teams traded baskets, the Mocs took a 68-66 lead with 3:41 left in the overtime following two free throws by junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio). After SLU's Chim Kadima hit 1-of-2 free throws to drop the Mocs lead to 68-67, FSC appeared to heading to the free throw looking to extend its lead after senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) collected a rebound on missed trey Kadima, but the officials whistled a foul McKnight, not Ron Foxx, after it appeared Fox had tackled McKnight trying to come up with the ball. Foxx made two free throws to give the Lions a 69-68 lead with 2:36 remaining in the game.

""It was a tough loss tonight. Saint Leo is a good team," Darner said. "When you have two guys combine to shoot 28 free throws it is tough to beat a team. I thought our guys did a nice job at battling through some adversity and hanging in there to get the game to overtime.

"We got a two point lead in overtime and we think we have the rebound and the call is coming our way and it goes to them (SLU) and they hit two free throws and that was the difference in the game."

Following Foxx's two free throws, both teams took turns with the lead until Foxx gave the Lions a 73-71 advantage following his lay-up with 1:11 left in the game. On the ensuing possession, Capers missed his lay-up attempt and Harris hit two free throws with 36 seconds left to give the Lions a 75-71 lead. The Mocs would pull within two at 75-73 following a lay-up by McKnight with 16 seconds remaining.

That would be as close as FSC would get as Harris hit 1-of-2 free throws with 13 seconds left to give SLU a 76-73 lead. The Mocs had two shots to tie the game, but they each fell short in the final seven seconds.

In addition to Capers' 27 points, which extended his streak of 20 point game to 11 straight, senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and sophomore guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) each had 10 points, while Kelly and redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) each had nine points in the loss.

With his 27 points, Capers passed Derek Flowers for 11th on the school's career scoring chart as Capers has now scored 1,382 points in two-plus seasons as a Moc. Flowers scored 1,367 points from 1988-91. He is now just 18 points shy of becoming the 11th Moccasin in school history to score 1,400 career points.

Kadima led the way for the Lions with 23 points, including going 10-for-17 at the free throw line, while Harris, who entered the game as the No. 3 scorer in the league at 18.7 points per game, added 17, including going 8-for-11 at the line. Foxx also finished in double figures for the Lions as he had 19 points and 11 rebounds in win.

The Mocs, who trailed 35-30 at the half, opened the second half on a 13-4 run to take a 43-39 lead following a basket by Capers with 15:13 left in regulation. The run was aided by five points from Kelly and four points from Capers.

After SLU tied the game at 43 on a lay-up by Cale Girten, the Mocs answered with a 14-6 run capped by a lay-up from Capers to take a 57-49 lead with 7:40 left in regulation. Capers scored seven of FSC's 14 points during the run.

The Lions, who have won 20 games for the second consecutive season, used a 4-0 run to pull within 57-53, before Capers hit 1-of-2 free throws with 5:41 left push the Mocs back out to a 58-53 lead.

On the night, the Mocs shot 38 percent from the field and hit just 3-of-17 three-point shots (18 percent) and was outrebounded, 43-42. Williams and Adams led the way on the board for the Mocs as they each had seven for the game, while McKnight and junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) each picked up six boards.

The Mocs forced SLU into 19 turnovers and scored 18 points off those turnovers, but SLU shot nine more free throws and made seven more free throws than the Mocs on the night as the Lions were 25-for-36 (69 percent), including a combined 19-for-26 at the line in the second half and overtime. FSC shot 67 percent (18-for-27) from the line, including going a combined 14-for-18 in the second half and overtime.   

FSC will attempt to start a new winning streak on Saturday, Feb. 22 as the Mocs close out its regular season non-conference slate in West Palm Beach against Palm Beach Atlantic. Tip-off for the non-conference finale is set for 7 p.m. at Rubin Arena on the PBA campus.