Moccasin Game Notes vs. Nova Southeastern
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 seventh in this week's sixth regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mocs have been ranked in the Top 10 for 20 of the past 22 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 185 games. Only Florida has won more games (197) over that same span than the Mocs.
* - FSC stands 18th all-time in wins in NCAA Division II with 1,351 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 194 all-time victories.
SEVENTH-RANKED MOCS CONCLUDE TWO-GAME ROAD SWING SATURDAY AT NOVA SOUTHEASTERN
Seventh-ranked Florida Southern (12-1 overall, 1-1 SSC) is set to conclude its two-game road trip to open the road portion of its 2014-15 SSC schedule on Saturday, Jan. 10 as the Moccasins travel to Davie for a 4 p.m. contest in the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center (4,500) on the NSU campus against Nova Southeastern (5-6 overall, 1-2 SSC). Saturday's game will mark the third conference game of the season for the Mocs, its second consecutive road game in the 2015 calendar year and just its fourth game away from home on the season. The game will be the second of a doubleheader at NSU as the Moccasin women (8-3, 2-0 SSC) face the 11th-ranked NSU women (10-2, 2-1 SSC) at 2 p.m.
FSC, who is ranked seventh in this week's sixth regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, enters Saturday's game looking to extend its win streak to two straight games after opening the road portion of its SSC schedule with a come-from-behind 71-66 win at Saint Leo to rebound from its 107-102 loss in its SSC opener last Saturday at home against then 11th-ranked Barry and also avoid just its fourth-ever 0-2 start in SSC play. 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 win at SLU, FSC has now won just two of its last five conference games dating to last season. FSC comes into the weekend sporting a 12-1 overall record and are sitting in fourth place in the SSC standings with a 1-1 record.
MOCS OPEN 11-0 FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE SEASON, 10TH TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Prior to last Saturday's five-point home loss to Barry, the Mocs had opened the season by winning its first 11 games for the second consecutive season and 10th time in school history. In addition, FSC opened 11-0 for just the fourth time since the beginning of the 1999-00 season. FSC has won 20 or more games in eight of those previous nine seasons in which they have opened the year 11-0, including posting a 26-5 record last season.
CAPERS CLIMBING ALL-TIME SCORING CHART
Moccasin senior guard Kevin Capers is continuing his climb up the school's all-time scoring chart as he enters this Saturday's game with Nova having scored 1,809 career points, which is fourth on the all-time list as he passed both Donolly Tyrell (1987-90) and Bob Bowman (1963-67) on the school's career scoring chart after scoring 17 in the Mocs 107-65 win over Tuskegee on Dec. 19. Through 13 games this season, Capers, who is the second leading active scorer in Division II, has scored 277 points and is averaging 21.3 points per game, which leads the SSC and is 15th nationally in the latest Division II statistics.
He has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 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 addition, he has scored 20 or more points in 11 of his last 15 outings, including nine times this season.
FSC-NOVA SERIES
Saturday's game with Nova Southeastern will mark the 28th all-time meeting in the series and the first of two meetings this season. The Mocs hold a 22-5 lead all-time in the series and has won five straight and 14 of the last 15 meetings with NSU's only win coming in Davie on Jan. 7, 2012 as the Sharks collected a 90-79 victory. Last season, the Mocs swept the season series as they won 79-73 in Davie to open its SSC slate and then collected a 95-73 win in Lakeland. FSC holds a 14-1 mark in Lakeland and leads 8-4 in Davie and has won two straight game on the Sharks homecourt since that win in 2012. Darner is 14-4 all-time against Nova as the Mocs coach.
