Moccasin Game Notes vs. Lynn
MOCCASIN QUICK NOTES
* - This is the 88th season of Moccasin basketball.
* - The Moccasins began the 2014-15 campaign by posting an 86-75 home win over Warner in an exhibition contest on Nov. 12.
* - FSC opened the 2014-15 season with a 93-76 win over West Alabama in the SSC/GSC Challenge in Lakeland. It marked the third consecutive season and the 13th time in the last 15 years that FSC had opened the season with a victory.
* - The Mocs opened the season with an 11-0 record for the second consecutive season and 10th time in school history. Last year, FSC opened the season by winning its first 18 games.
* - FSC finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 26-5 record. The Mocs took home the regular season SSC title for the second straight year and won its third consecutive SSC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time consecutive season.
* - The Mocs were tabbed to repeat as the SSC Champions in the Preseason SSC Coaches' Poll and was ranked sixth in the Preseason Division II Bulletin Poll.
* - The Mocs were ranked ninth in the Preseason NABC/D-II Coaches' Poll and it marked the 13th time since the NABC began a preseason poll in 1996-97 that FSC has been preseason ranked and the second consecutive year they were ranked in the Top 10 as FSC was ranked ninth in 2013-14 preseason poll.
* - The Mocs are ranked third in this week's eighth regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mocs have been ranked in the Top 10 for 22 of the past 24 regular season polls.
* - FSC returns two starters and five key players from last season's squad, including senior guard Kevin Capers, who averaged 21.5 points per game last season en route to earning consensus All-America honors.
* - Over the past seven-plus seasons, FSC is the second winningest NCAA men's basketball program in the state of Florida as they have won 188 games. Only Florida has won more games (200) over that same span than the Mocs.
* - FSC stands 18th all-time in wins in NCAA Division II with 1,355 wins and is one of 23 D-II programs to record more than 1,300 all-time victories.
* - The Mocs have won 20 or more games for seven consecutive seasons. FSC is one of just three Division II schools (West Liberty and Findlay) to post 20 win campaigns the past seven seasons.
* - FSC has won an SSC-best 21 regular season titles and 22 SSC Tournament titles and made its 28th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance last season, which is third-most all-time in Division II.
* - The Mocs have advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament the past seven seasons and are one of just two Division II schools to play in the NCAA Tournament the past seven seasons, the other one being Seattle Pacific, who earned its 10th consecutive tournament berth in 2013-14.
* - Moccasin head coach Linc Darner is in his ninth season in Lakeland and he has won five SSC Coach of the Year honors and is second on the school's all-time win list with 198 all-time victories.
THIRD-RANKED MOCS BEGIN TWO-GAME ROAD SWING WEDNESDAY AT TAMPA
Third-ranked Florida Southern (16-1 overall, 5-1 SSC) is set to continue its span of playing four of its next five games on the road when they travel to Boca Raton, Fla., for a 4 p.m. Sunshine State Conference tilt against 24th-ranked Lynn (12-3 overall, 5-1 SSC) at the de Hoernle Center (1,000) o n the Lynn campus. Saturday's game will mark the seventh conference game of the season for the Mocs and its sixth game away from home on the year as FSC is 5-0 on the road, including a 3-0 away mark in SSC play. The game will also be the second of a doubleheader at the de Hoernle Center as the Moccasin women (8-7, 2-4 SSC) face Lynn (7-8, 1-5 SSC) at 2 p.m.
FSC, who is ranked third in this week's eighth regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, enters Saturday's game looking to extend its win streak to six straight games after posting a come-from-behind 81-75 win on Wednesday at Tampa. The win over Tampa followed FSC's two home wins last week over Eckerd (80-62) and Florida Tech (109-96) and two straight road wins two weeks ago at Saint Leo (71-66) and at Nova Southeastern (77-74). The five wins have came after the Mocs suffered its first loss of the season on Jan. 3 at home in its SSC opener to then 11th-ranked Barry, 107-102. The loss to Barry was FSC's first loss of the season after opening the year by winning its first 11 games and was also its first home setback after winning its first nine home contests of the year. The loss to Barry to open league play was its first since falling 84-78 at Rollins to open the 2011-12 SSC slate.
With its five straight wins in SSC play, the Mocs have now won six of its last nine conference games dating to last season, including winning five of its last six road SSC games with only loss being a 71-69 setback last season in its final road game at Tampa. FSC comes into this weekend's action sporting a 16-1 overall record and are sitting in tie for second place with Lynn in the SSC standings with a 5-1 record.
SATURDAY'S GAME IS BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE IN SSC STANDINGS
Saturday's game will be a battle for second place in the SSC standings as Florida Southern and Lynn come into the contest tied for second in the league standings with identical 5-1 records. Both teams are one game behind fourth-ranked Barry in the SSC standings as the Buccaneers, who play at Eckerd on Saturday, are the only undefeated team in SSC play as they are sporting a 6-0 record. If Barry were to lose at Eckerd on Saturday, than the winner of the FSC-Lynn game would move into a tie for first place with Barry in the league standings.
CAPERS BECOMES NO. 2 SCORER IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Moccasin senior guard Kevin Capers is continuing his climb up the school's all-time scoring chart as he enters Saturday's game with Lynn having scored 1,918 points, which is second on the all-time chart as he passed both Kris Kearney (1986-89) and Rion Rayfield (2007-11) on the school's career scoring chart after scoring 19 points in the Mocs 109-96 win last Saturday over Florida Tech.
Through 17 games this season, Capers, who is the second leading active scorer in Division II, has scored 384 points and is averaging 22.6 points per game, which leads the SSC and is 13th nationally in the latest Division II statistics.
He has scored in double figures in 15 of 17 games this season and had a streak of 13 consecutive games of scoring 10 or more points, including tallying a career-high and an FSC NCAA Tournament record 46 points in FSC's South Regional Tournament game last season against Tuskegee, snapped after scoring a season-low six points against Miles in FSC's final game of the 2014 calendar year. In addition, he has scored 20 or more points in 14 of his last 19 outings, including 12 times this season and is coming off a season high 35 point effort in Wednesday's 81-75 win at Tampa.
FSC-LYNN SERIES
Saturday's game with Lynn will mark the 42nd all-time meeting between the two schools as FSC holds a 32-9 edge in the series. (A detailed breakdown of the series is located on page 9 of the notes). The Mocs, who will host the Fighting Knights in Lakeland on Feb. 21, have won 10 straight games and 11 of the last 12 in the series with Lynn's only win coming on Feb. 21, 2009, as they defeated the Mocs, 70-69 in Lakeland.
The Mocs lead the series, 14-4 in Lakeland, while also holding a 14-4 edge at Lynn and leads 4-1 on neutral courts. The Mocs have won sevenstraight games in the series in Boca Raton as the Fighting Knights last win on its home court over the Mocs came in 2006 as the Fighting Knights picked up a 77-70 win and the Mocs have won five straight games in Lakeland against Lynn. Darner is 14-3 all-time against Lynn as FSC's coach.
SCOUTING LYNN
Lynn (12-3 overall, 5-1 SSC) comes into Saturday's action having won six of its last seven games with the only loss being an 80-72 setback on Wednesday at home against fourth-ranked Barry in a battle of the two undefeated teams in SSC play. The Fighting Knights, who are ranked 24th in this week's latest NABC/Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll, are off to its best start since the 2004-05 season when Lynn finished 29-6 and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Semifinals. The Barry loss was the first of the 2015 calendar year for Lynn and the first for the team since suffering a 72-60 loss at home to Winston-Salem State in its second to last game of its pre-Christmas schedule. Lynn's other loss this season came in double overtime to Midwestern State (90-83). In SSC play, the Fighting Knights won its first five league contests as they collected home wins over Rollins (80-64), Nova Southeastern (82-64) and Eckerd (71-67 in overtime) and road wins at Tamoa (69-63) and at Saint Leo (62-55) in a game broadcast nationally as part of the Division II Game of the Week package on CBS Sports Network.
Saturday's game will mark the third game for Lynn in the last six days as they played Saint Leo last Sunday, before hosting Barry on Wednesday and the Mocs on Saturday. Lynn has been strong at home this year as they are 7-3 on its home court, including being 3-1 at home in SSC play. Lynn, who was tabbed to finish ninth in the Preseason SSC Coaches' Poll, returns five starters and 11 lettermen from last season's 9-18 squad that went 3-13 in the SSC. In addition to the 11 returners, Lynn also brought several newcomers that have made an impact this season.
The Fighting Knights are coached by Jeff Price (Pikeville, '81), who is in the second season of his second stint with Lynn. In his first go-around at Lynn from 1993-99, Price averaged 23 wins per season, including posting 20 or more wins in five of six seasons. His best Lynn team came in 1996-97, when the Fighting Knights put together a 20-game winning streak en route to advancing to the national semifinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament and finishing the season with a school record 28 wins and posting a 28-3 record. In his seven-plus seasons at Lynn, he has recorded a 155-65 record and is 324-217 in 20 years as a collegiate head coach.
The Fighting Knights team features two players averaging in double figures led by senior guard Aaron Harrison. Harrison is seventh in the league in scoring (14.9 ppg), is 12th in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and leads the league and is third nationally in steals as he averages 3.1 per game. On the year, he has 11 double-digit scoring effort and has collected three or more steals in nine games and posted a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds against Rollins. He is shooting 43 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free throw line. In addition to Harrison, the second double figure scorer is junior guard/forward David Johnson. Johnson, who is a transfer from Indian River State College, is averaging 10.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field and has reached double digits in six games, while the third leading scorer is junior forward Pavle Raickovic. Raickovic is averaging 9.6 points and 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game and is shooting 61 percent from the field and 86 percent at the free throw line and has scored in double digits in eight games.
Other key performers for the Fighting Knights are senior guard Kaleb Clyburn, junior guard Ben Berry, junior forward Fred Landers and junior point guard Russell Wilson. Clyburn is averaging 9.4 points and 2.9 assists per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field, 48 percent from the 3-point line and is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers per game, while Berry, who is a transfer from Northern Oklahoma College, is averaging 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but in SSC play is averaging 14.4 points per game and is shooting 55 percent from the field and 52 percent from downtown in six SSC contests. On the year, he has scored in double figures in eight games, including five times in his last six games. Landers is averaging 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 37 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free throw line and Wilson, who is a transfer from Samford, is averaging 6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and is third in the SSC in both assists (6.3) and steals (2.4). He is shooting 45 percent from the field and has had six or more assists in nine games, including 14 against Midwestern State.
As a team, the Fighting Knights are one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are third in scoring defense (68.5), fifth in both field goal percentage defense (42 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (34.6 percent) and they are second nationally in steals (13.6 spg) and lead Division II in blocked shots as they average 6.7 blocks per game. On offense, Lynn is averaging 80.1 points per game, which is third best in the SSC and has scored 80 or more points in eight games, but has been held under 75 points in its last four outings. In addition, Lynn is shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line and is outscoring its foes by 11.7 points per game, which is third-best in the SSC.
