Box Score TAMPA - Florida Southern and Tampa added another chapter in their long standing history here Wednesday evening as the third-ranked Moccasins rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit to claim an 81-75 victory over the Spartans in Sunshine State Conference action at the Martinez Athletics Center.
Wednesday's game was the 164th all-time meeting between the two rivals that are located about 35 miles apart and with the win, the Mocs improved to 93-71 all-time against the Spartans and avenged a 71-69 road loss last season to UT.
"It was a big road win for us tonight. Tampa has a really good team and has caused us problems lately," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following his team's 15th win of the season. "I thought we had some different guys step up tonight and make plays when we needed them."
With the victory, the Mocs extend their win streak to five straight games and improve to 15-1 overall and 5-1 in the SSC, while UT had its four-game win streak snapped and fell to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the SSC.
The Mocs offense, which scored 80-plus points for the 15th time in 17 games this season, was paced by a season-high 35 point effort from senior All-American guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.). With his 35 points, Capers, who has scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season, eclipsed the 1,900 career point barrier as the school's No. 2 all-time scorer has now tallied 1,918 points in 111 career games as a Moccasin.
"Kevin really did a nice job of attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line," said Darner, who improved to 16-4 against UT as FSC's coach. "He had been struggling finishing when attacking the basket, but tonight he was able to make some shots."
On the night, Capers was 10-for-24 from the field, including going 2-for-4 from the 3-point line and was 13-for-17 from the free throw line and added seven boards. It marked the seventh time this season that Capers had 10 or more free throws in a game.
Tampa, who led 39-37 at the half, opened the second half on a 14-9 run to take a 53-46 lead with 12:26 left in the game following a lay-up from Eugene McCrory, who finished the night with 22 points and eight rebounds.
The Spartans lead, though, would be shortlived as the Mocs answered with an 11-2 flurry to turn a 7-point deficit into a 57-55 lead with 10:31 left in the game. The run was capped by back-to-back three-point plays from Capers, who scored eight of his team's 11 points during the run.
UT would respond with a 5-0 run to retake the lead at 60-57 with 8:59 remaining. After six consecutive made free throws, including four straight by senior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) and a lay-up from senior Tyler Logan (Landover, Md.) gave the Mocs a lead they wouldn't surrender the remainder of the game. Logan's lay-up gave the Mocs a 65-60 lead.
FSC would eventually push its lead out to six points following a trey from junior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) with 3:32 left in the game. Travis' trey made the score, 75-69.
After Austin Rettig brought the Spartans within four points at 75-71 with 1:29 remaining, the Mocs would extend its lead to six 38 seconds later on a lay-up by Capers. On the ensuing UT possesion, Othneil Shelton would draw UT within four points at 77-73, but the Mocs sealed the victory by hitting 4-of-6 free throws in the final 31 seconds.
In addition to Capers' 35 points, Travis tallied 18 points off the bench, while senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) added eight points and seven rebounds. The eight point performance snapped Battle's six game double-digit scoring streak.
Joining McCrory in double figures for the Spartans was Shelton as he scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, including scoring 14 of those 18 points in the first half. The third UT player in double figures was Rettig as he tallied 16 points, including scoring 13 of them after halftime.
The Mocs defense held UT point guard Jordan Davis to just six points as the senior finished the night 2-for-13 from the field and was 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. Despite scoring only six points, Davis did recorde eight rebounds and seven assists in the loss. Davis entered the game as the No. 5 scorer in the SSC as he was averaging 16.3 points per game.
"I thought we did a great job guarding (Jordan) Davis tonight," the Mocs coach added. "A lot of guys took turns guarding him and thought that was a key to the game, being able to control him."
For the game, the Mocs shot 40 percent from the field and 50 percent (9-for-18) from the 3-point line and connected on 76 percent (22-for-29) of its free throws. Meanwhile, UT finished the night shooting 39 percent from the field, but just seven percent (1-for-14) from long distance. The Spartans, though, were strong at the line as they shot 88 percent (22-for-25).
"9-1 to three-pointers was a huge edge for us tonight," added Darner, who improved to 198-72 in his ninth season at the helm of the Mocs.
UT jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, before the Mocs used a 10-2 run to take a 12-8 lead just a little over seven minutes into the game. After back-to-back baskets by UT tied the score at 12, the Mocs answered with a 20-12 run capped by two Capers free throws to push out to a 32-24 lead with 5:35 left in the first half.
The Spartans, though, would respond by closing out the opening half on a 15-5 run to take its 39-37 lead at the half. UT's first half closing run was keyed by a combined 10 points from McCrory and Shelton.
UT outrebounded the Mocs, 46-39 and blocked four shots, while FSC forced UT into 12 turnovers, but the Spartans held a 13-9 in points off turnovers as FSC had eight turnovers for the game.
FSC will look to extend its win streak to six consecutive games on Saturday, Jan. 24 as they conclude its two-game road swing with a 4 p.m. game in Boca Raton against 24th-ranked Lynn (12-3, 5-1 SSC). The Fighting Knights suffered their first SSC loss of the season on Wednesday as they fell 80-72 at home to fourth-ranked Barry in a battle against the remaining two undefeated teams in the league.
"It will be another big road test for us on Saturday and we need to be ready to get after it again for 40 minutes" said Darner when asked about Saturday's game.
