Box Score
WEST PALM BEACH - Junior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) scored on a tip-in with five seconds remaining to help Florida Southern survive here Saturday evening in its non-conference finale against Palm Beach Atlantic as the eighth-ranked Moccasins earned an 88-84 win over the Sailfish at Rubin Arena.
Battle's tip-in gave the Mocs an 86-84 lead and on the ensuing in bounds play, redshirt senior forward Garrett Putman (Washington, D.C.) stole the inbounds pass and would hit two free throws with 0.1 seconds left to seal FSC's victory that improved the Mocs to 23-3 overall.
With the victory, the Mocs completed non-conference play with a 12-0 record, which marks the first time since the 2009-10 season that FSC completed its regular season non-conference schedule without a loss. The 2009-10 squad finished 11-0 in regular season non-conference action.
The Moccasins began the game having already clinched the regular season Sunshine State Conference championship after Saint Leo suffered a 63-60 loss at home to Lynn on a 3-pointer right before the buzzer by Fred Landers. With SLU's loss, the Mocs, who had earned a share of the regular season title following its win last Saturday at Florida Tech, earned its second straight SSC regular season title and its 21st overall regular season league title in school history.
With its regular season title in hand, the Mocs now earn the No. 1 seed in the SSC Tournament, which is scheduled for March 5-9 at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. FSC will play as the tournament's No. 1 seed in the first semifinal game on Saturday, March 8 at 12 p.m.
"We found a way to win this game tonight without Kevin (Capers) for the most of the second half and Frank (Adams), who was battling foul trouble," Moccasins head coach Linc Darner said following the game. "PBA played great tonight."
Battle, who hit two free throws with 33 seconds left to give the Mocs an 84-83 lead, finished the night with 17 points, including going 9-for-9 at the free throw line. Following Battle's two free throws, Marko Djekovic hit 1-of-2 free throws five seconds later to tie the game.
"Stephen's two free throws, rebound and put-back in the final 35 seconds of the game were huge plays for us," said Darner, who has now led FSC to five regular season SSC titles in eight seasons as the Mocs coach.
On the next possession, senior forward Lamar McKnight (Cleveland, Ohio) misfired on a jump shot, but Battle got inside and collected the rebound and put the ball back in the basket to give FSC its 86-84 lead.
Capers, who finished with 18 points, including scoring 16 points in the first half, spent all but 68 seconds on the court in the second half before being whistled for his second technical foul. He earned his first technical foul with no time left on the clock at the end of the first half.ÂÂ
The Mocs, who scored 49 points in the second half, used a 10-0 run over a span of four minutes to turn a tie game into a 60-50 lead following a lay-up by junior guard Tyler Logan (Marlboro, Md.). Following FSC's run, PBA (8-17) mounted a comeback as they used a 17-10 run to pull within 70-67 following a basket by Garet Tucker. The Sailfish's run was aided by seven points from Ronnell Ross, who finished with 20 points, including scoring 16 in the second half.
FSC would hit 4-of-5 free throws and get a bucket from Putman to push its lead back out to 76-71 with 6:53 left in the game. The Sailfish, though, answered with a six consecutive points by Ross to take a 77-76 lead with 4:08 remaining.
The teams would then take turns trading the lead until Logan hit a jumper with 1:18 left to give the Mocs an 82-80 lead. A free throw by Ross and a lay-up by Graham with 45 seconds left gave PBA an 83-82 lead prior to Battle's two free throws.
In addition to Battle and Capers, junior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) had 12 points, while Putman added 10 points and seven rebounds. McKnight finished the night with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high tying four steals.
Joining Ross in double figures for PBA was Christian Martinez, who also scored 20 points, including scoring 18 first half points. Graham added 14 points and five assists, while Tucker had 11 points and five boards in the loss.
The Mocs shot 44 percent from the field, including 51 percent in the second half, but struggled from the 3-point line as they hit two of its 12 3-point attempts (16.7 percent). PBA shot 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.
FSC finished with a 42-40 edge on the boards and forced the Sailfish into 15 turnovers that led to 16 points. The Mocs committed 11 turnovers and its bench outscored PBA's bench, 37-21.
The teams combined to shoot 56 free throws as a combined 51 fouls were called in the game, including 31 fouls in the first half. The Mocs shot 22-for-25 (88 percent) at the line, including going 12-for-13 at the line after halftime, while PBA was 19-for-31 (61 percent) at the line.
PBA jumped out to a 19-8 lead in the opening six-plus minutes into the game keyed by four 3-pointers from Martinez. The Mocs, though, would answer with 14-2 run capped by a fast break lay-up from Capers to take a 22-21 lead with 8:59 left in the opening half.
After PBA scored three straight points on free throws to take a 24-22 lead, the Mocs used a 6-0 run to take a 28-24 lead. The run was capped by four straight free throws from Battle.
The Sailfish would retake the lead at 32-28, before FSC would nine of the next 12 points to retake the lead at 37-34 following a 3-pointer by McKnight with 2:14 left in the half.
After PBA tied the game up at 37, the Mocs used a Capers lay-up to take a 39-37 lead with 25 seconds left and the Sailfish capped the first half scoring on a Martinez lay-up to tie the game at 39 at the half.
The Mocs will return to SSC play on Wednesday, Feb. 26 as they travel to Tampa for a 7:30 p.m. game at the Bob Martinez Activities Center against the Spartans (16-8 overall, 9-6 SSC). FSC earned an 87-83 double overtime win over the Spartans in Lakeland on Jan. 22.
