Box Score WEST PALM BEACH - Florida Southern hit a season high 14 three-pointers and had four players score 16 or more points en route to concluding its non-conference schedule here Saturday with a 93-67 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic at Rubin Arena.
With the victory, the third-ranked Moccasins improved to 19-1 overall on the season and extended its win streak to eight consecutive games. In addition, the win allowed the Mocs to finish non-conference play with a 12-0 record for the second straight season.
The Mocs long range barrage was keyed by six treys apiece from senior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) and junior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.). Kelly finished the game 6-for-11 from long distance as he tallied a career high 23 points, while Williams finished 6-for-7 from the 3-point line as he tied a season high with 20 points off the bench in the win.
"T.K. and Dominique really shot the ball well today," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following his team's second win this season over PBA. "I thought our guys did a good job and played really well today. It was a good win for our team."
FSC, who has now won 31 consecutive regular season non-conference games and 12 straight regular season non-conference road games, broke open a close game midway through the first half as they used a 21-7 run to turn a 16-15 lead into a 37-22 advantage with 3:39 left in the first half. The run was keyed by a combined 12 points from Kelly and Williams as Kelly scored seven and Williams had six.
The Sailfish, who fell to 7-11 with the loss, closed the half scoring 11 of the final 14 points to drop FSC's lead to 40-33 at half.
FSC would open the second half on 21-9 run to push out to a 61-42 lead following a trey from Williams, who hit six consecutive treys in the game before missing his final 3-point attempt. Kelly and Williams each hit two treys during the run.
After PBA scored four quick points to drop FSC's lead to 61-46, the Mocs answered with a 15-6 run capped by a trey from Williams to push its lead to 76-52 with 9:23 left in the game.
From that point, the Mocs would cruise against the Sailfish as their lead reach as much as 28 points following a tip-in by sophomore guard Michael Volovic (Carmel, Ind.) with 40 seconds left in the game. Volovic's tip-in gave the Mocs a 93-65 lead.
In addition to Kelly's 23 points and Williams' 20 points, senior All-American guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) and senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) each had 16 points in the win, including scoring a combined 17 points in the second half.
Battle added 11 boards in the win for his second double-double of the season and also blocked a career high six shots. The six blocked shots were the most by a Moccasin player since Battle blocked four shots against Delta State earlier this season. FSC finished the game with a season high eight blocks.
"I thought Stephen (Battle) played well on both ends of the floor today," the Mocs coach added.
PBA was paced offensively by 14 points from Clayton Williams, while Evin Graham added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Garet Tucker had 10 points and eight boards in the loss. Williams scored all 14 of his points in the first half.
For the game, the Mocs shot 45 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line and was 15-for-21 (15-for-21) at the free throw line. PBA finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor and 33 percent from long distance.
The Mocs were outrebounded, 46-45, but forced the Sailfish into 15 turnovers that led to 28 points as FSC has a 28-8 edge in points off turnovers.
FSC will return to Sunshine State Conference play this coming Wednesday, Feb. 4 as they travel to Miami Shores for a 7:30 p.m. contest against fourth-ranked Barry (17-1, 9-0 SSC). The Buccaneers handed the Mocs its only loss of the season as they collected a 107-102 win in Lakeland on Jan. 3.
"It should be a great game on Wednesday against two really good teams," said Darner, whose team is 7-0 away from home this season. "Barry is playing as good as any team in team in the country right now."
