KISSIMMEE - 16th-ranked Florida Southern will begin its quest for the third consecutive Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship trophy here Saturday afternoon as the regular season champion and No. 1 seeded Moccasins face seventh-seeded Eckerd in the first of two semifinals of the 2014 SSC Men's Basketball Tournament. Tip-off for Saturday's semifinal is set for 12 p.m. at the Silver Spurs Arena on the grounds of the Osceola Heritage Park Complex.
Printable SSC Tournament Bracket
The Mocs, who have won a league-best 21 tournament championships, will look to become the first team to win three consecutive tournament titles since Florida Southern (24-4 overall) won four straight SSC Tournament titles from 1998-2001. In fact, FSC is the only league school to ever win more than two consecutive tournament championships as they also six straight titles from 1986-91 and claim three straight tournament titles from 1979-81. Last season, the Mocs repeated as the SSC Tournament champions after posting a 72-66 win in the championship game over Rollins in Kissimmee.
Along with looking to win its 22nd SSC Tournament title this weekend, the Mocs will look to cement its chances of hosting the eight-team NCAA Division II South Regional, which is scheduled for run from March 15-18 at campus sites. In this week's latest South Region rankings that were released by the NCAA on Wednesday, the Mocs remained atop the rankings after claiming its 21st regular season SSC title and closing the regular season by suffering a 71-69 loss to Tampa and earning a 72-68 win at home last Saturday against Rollins. FSC is one of five SSC teams ranked in the Top 9 of the poll as Saint Leo is third, Barry is fourth, Tampa is eighth and Rollins was ninth.
The NCAA will announce the 64 team field for the 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament on the internet at www.ncaa.com on Sunday, March 9 at 10:30 p.m. EDT. The champion of the SSC Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the tournament, along with the champions of both the Gulf South Conference (Alabama-Huntsville is the defending champion) and SIAC Tournaments (Benedict won last year's title).
In addition to FSC's semifinal game on Saturday, the other semifinal match-up has No. 2 seeded Saint Leo (23-7) facing No. 3 seeded Tampa (19-8) at 5 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in Sunday's SSC Championship game, which is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m.
Eckerd advanced to its meeting on Saturday with FSC by picking up a 66-52 win on Friday over sixth-seeded Nova Southeastern. In the win over the Sharks, the Tritons hit 11 3-point shots and outscored NSU, 31-19 in the second half to advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive season. E.J. Moody led the way for the Tritons with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Malcolm Brunner, Jr., added 17 points and eight boards. For the game, Eckerd held a 45-30 edge on the boards.
"I think our league top to bottom is as good as any Division II league in the country," said Moccasin head coach Linc Darner, who was named the SSC Coach of the Year on Friday for the second consecutive season and fifth time in the last eight seasons. "Everybody can beat everyone in this league."
Saturday's meeting with Eckerd will be the third of the season between the two teams as the Mocs earned an 84-55 win in Lakeland on Jan. 8 and then collected a 104-103 double overtime win over the Tritons in St. Petersburg on Feb. 12. In addition to being the third meeting this season, the teams will also be meeting for the 99th time as FSC holds a 65-33 lead in the all-time series and has won three straight games in the series, including picking up an 85-80 win over the Tritons in the semifinals of last season's SSC Tournament. The teams have met 10 times previously in the SSC Tournament with the Mocs holding a 7-3 edge in those games.
While FSC comes into Saturday's semifinals looking to advance to the finals for the third consecutive season, Eckerd comes into the match-up looking to keep its season alive as the Tritons improved to 17-13 on the season after earning its 14-point win over sixth-seeded Nova Southeastern in Friday's quarterfinal round game. Eckerd, who is making its 32nd appearance in the SSC Tournament and has a 31-28 record in the event, has won two straight games since dropping three straight games to close out the regular season. Both of Eckerd's wins have come in the postseason as they opened SSC Tournament action with an 83-73 upset win in Wednesday's first round action over No. 4 seeded Barry.
"Eckerd gave us a great game last time we played them and over the years we've had some great battles with them and I expect nothing but the same tomorrow," Darner said. "Eckerd runs a good offense and they have players that can really knock down some shots. They are athletic and we'll need to do a good job at boxing them on the glass as they are a good rebounding team."
The Tritons, who have three players averaging in double figures, is led by senior guard Josh Snodgrass. Snodgrass is averaging 15.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent at the free throw line and has scored in double figures in 17 games, including reaching double figures in 17 of his last 18 games. In addition to Snodgrass, sophomore guard/forward Jerrick Stevenson is averaging 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and tallied double figures in scoring in 27 games, including scoring 10 or more points in 20 of his last 21 games, while senior guard Alex Bodney is averaging 11.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and is shooting 39 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 80 percent at the foul line, which is the seventh-best mark in the SSC.
As a team, Eckerd is one of the top defensive teams in the SSC as they are fourth in the league in scoring defense as they allowed 67.8 points per game and are fifth in field goal percentage defense (43.1 percent) and fifth in rebound margin (+2.5). On offense, the Tritons are averaging 70.9 points per game and are shooting 43 percent from the field and 32 percent from long distance and is outscoring its foes by a +2.9 margin.
Eckerd's defense will be challenged by the Moccasins' top-ranked offensive unit that is eighth in Division II in scoring as they average 88 points per game. FSC has scored 80 or more points in 21 of 28 games, including scoring 90 or more points in 13 of its last 24 outings and have topped the century mark three times this season. Additionally, the Mocs are outscoring its foes by an SSC-best +10.2 margin and they lead the SSC in free throw shooting at 74.3 percent and turnover margin (+4.5). On defense, FSC allows 77.8 points per game and its foes are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and is fifth in the SSC in three-point field goal percentage defense (33.9 percent) and are second in the league and 25th nationally in steals as they average 8.5 per game on the season.
The Mocs are paced by the play of junior guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.). Capers, who became the sixth Moccasin player to be named the SSC Player of the Year on Friday, leads the SSC in scoring as he averages 20 point per game and is also averaging 2.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field and 78 percent at the line and has scored in double figures in 24 of 28 games, including a team-best 17 20-plus point games. He has scored 20 or more points in 11 of his last 14 outings. In addition to Capers, senior guard Frank Adams (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who is a transfer from Young Harris and scored 1,500 points in three seasons at the school, is averaging 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and has reached double figures in 18 games.
"We are coming into the SSC Tournament having played one of our best halves (second half) of the season last Saturday against Rollins, so I hope that helps give us some confidence coming into play on Saturday," said Darner, who is 180-70 in his eighth season with the Mocs. The Mocs, who trailed by as much as 15 points early in the second half, outscored the Tars 41-23 over the final 16 minutes of the game to earn the 72-68 win over Rollins last Saturday night on Senior Night at Jenkins Field House.
The Mocs have had a ton of success in the SSC Tournament as they are making its 37th all-time tournament appearance and has compiled a 63-15 record, which is 31 more wins than any other school in the league has compiled. The Mocs have won an SSC-best 21 tournament titles and have had four runner-up finishes. The Mocs are playing at the No. 1 seed this season for the first time since 2010. The Mocs have won 11 of its 21 tournament titles as a No. 1 seed and is 32-5 all-time in the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Complete Moccasin SSC Tournament Game Notes
Live stats for all game of the SSC Tournament will be available here: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=51588
Live video broadcast of the SSC Tournament will be available here: http://www.sunshinestateconference.com/page.asp?articleID=2405
Live audio broadcast of the Eckerd game will be available here: http://fscmocs.nmtvsports.com
