LAKELAND - Florida Southern will begin its quest for a second consecutive regional championship here Saturday evening as the 10th-ranked and No. 1 seeded Moccasins will face eighth-seeded Tuskegee in first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament at Jenkins Field House. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and will be the third of four quarterfinal round games on Saturday.
Printable South Regional bracket
South Regional Tournament homepage
Along with FSC's game against Tuskegee, other quarterfinal match-ups are No. 3 seeded Delta State (24-6) facing No. 6 seeded Barry (19-8) at 12 p.m., while No. 2 seeded Saint Leo (23-8) will meet No. 7 seeded West Alabama (17-10) and fourth-seeded North Alabama (22-9) will face No. 5 seeded Tampa (20-9) at 7:30 p.m. The regional semifinals are scheduled for Sunday, March 16 at 5 and 7:30 p.m. and the championship game is slated for Tuesday, March 18 at 7 p.m.
The Moccasins, who are hosting the South Regional for the fourth time in the seven years and 11th overall since 1979, enter the NCAA Tournament having won three straight games, including posting back-to-back victories last weekend en route to taking home its 22nd Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship. In the championship games, the Mocs posted an 84-74 win over Tampa at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
FSC, who along with winning its 22nd all-time SSC Tournament, also captured its 21st regular season title, enters the NCAA South Regional sporting a 26-4 overall record and its looking to repeat as the South Regional Champions and advance to the Elite Eight for the 10th time in school history. Tuskegee comes into Saturday's game having also won three straight games to take home the SIAC Tournament Championship trophy as the Golden Tigers defeated Fort Valley State, 88-80 in overtime in the championship game last Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
Tuskegee and the Mocs have met one time previously in the NCAA Tournament, which came in 1979 as Tuskegee earned a 107-102 win over FSC in the third place of the 1979 South Regional Tournament in Lakeland. The Mocs opened the tournament that season with a 75-67 loss to North Alabama, while Tuskegee fell 102-93 to Valdosta State. In addition, the Mocs are meeting a team from the SIAC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since defeated LeMoyne-Owen (94-77) in the quarterfinals of the 2009 South Regional in Lakeland.
FSC, who is coached by five-time SSC Coach of the Year Linc Darner, has posted a 38-29 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is making its 28th all-time appearance, which is third-most in Division II. In addition, FSC's 38 NCAA Tournament wins is fifth-most in Division II history.
Tuskegee is making just its fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2010 when the Golden Tigers fell 92-58 to No. 1 ranked Arkansas Tech in a quarterfinal round game in Russellville, Ark. Tuskegee is 1-4 in the NCAA Tournament all-time, which that lone win coming against FSC in the 1979 South Regional.
Saturday's game with Tuskegee will mark just the fourth meeting all-time between the two schools and the second this season as the Mocs picked up a 106-90 win in Lakeland to close out its pre-Christmas schedule on Dec. 22. FSC leads the series, 3-1, with all four of those meetings coming in Lakeland.
If the team's meeting earlier this season is any indication, Saturday's game could be a high scoring affair as the Golden Tigers, who went 12-5 and won the Western Division of the SIAC, come into the tournament averaging 82.1 points per game and they have scored 85 or more points in three of its last five games, including scoring 102 points in its 102-71 home win over Lane on Feb. 22. In addition, Tuskegee is shooting 48 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line. On defense, they are allowing 78.1 points per game and allow its opponents to shoot 46 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.
On the flip side, the Mocs are ninth in Division II in scoring as they are averaging 87.6 points per game and are 27th nationally in scoring margin (+10.1) and are shooting 46 percent from the floor and 30 percent from the 3-point line. One area where the Mocs excel is at the free throw line as they lead the SSC in free throw percentage (73.8 percent) and have 63 more free throws than their opponents and are averaging 19.6 made free throws per game. The Mocs also are averaging 40.3 rebounds per game, are second in the SSC in steals (8.4 per game) and average 16.9 assists per game. They led the SSC and are 10th nationally in turnover margin (+4.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3). On defense, the Mocs are allowing 77.6 points per game and they allow their opponents to shoot 44 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line.
Leading the way for the Tuskegee, who has four players averaging in double figures, is senior forward Richard Dixon. Dixon, who was named the SIAC Tournament MVP after averaging 21 points and 8.3 rebounds in three tournament games, is averaging 17.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field and 75 percent at the free throw line. In addition to Dixon, senior guard Javier McKinney is averaging 14.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line, while junior forward Graham Olatunji is averaging 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field. The final double-digit scorer for Tuskegee is senior guard Elliot Dean, who is averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and is second on the team in assists (72) and made 3-pointers (32) and is shooting 47 percent from the field and 42 percent from downtown.
Meanwhile, the Mocs enter Saturday's action with two players in its rotation averaging in double figures as junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) leads the way. Capers, who was named both the SSC and Daktronics South Region Player of the Year and also earned SSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, is averaging an SSC-best 20.7 points per game and is also averaging 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game and scored in double figures in 26 of 30 games, including scoring 20 or more points in 19 games. He comes into the NCAA Tournament fresh off a career-high 37 point performance in the Mocs SSC Tournament Championship game win over Tampa to help lead FSC to its third consecutive SSC Tournament title and its 22nd tournament title overall. Capers, who has scored in double figures in 19 of his last 20 games. In his two-plus seasons as a Moccasin, Capers has scored 1,488 points, which is ninth on the school's all-time chart.
In addition to Capers, senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.) is averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and has scored in double figures in three straight games and 20 times overall on the year. Adams, who was named the SSC All-Tournament Team after averaging 15.5 points per game in two tournament contests, is playing his first season at FSC after playing the past three seasons at Young Harris, where he scored over 1,500 points with the Mountain Lions.
Moccasins South Regional Game Notes
Live stats for all games of the NCAA Division II South Regional will be available here: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?gid=fsc&sport=bbgame&gender=m&t=1
Live video broadcast of the NCAA Division II South Regional will be available here: http://www.fscmocs.com/page.asp?articleID=3927
