Box Score LIVINGSTON, Ala. - Florida Southern opened its 89th season of intercollegiate basketball here Friday afternoon by suffering a 90-78 loss at the hands of West Alabama on the first day of the third annual SSC/GSC Challenge held at Pruitt Hall on the West Alabama campus.
Friday's game was the first of the regular season for the reigning Division II National Champion Moccasins and was also the debut of first year Moccasin coach Mike Donnelly.
West Alabama, though, spoiled the first game for Donnelly and the Mocs as they used a 47-28 edge on the glass and a 54 point outburst in the second half to hold off a Moccasin second half rally and snap Florida Southern's school record 25 game win streak that had dated to last season. FSC entered the 2015-16 season with the longest active win streak among all NCAA schools in all divisions.
Friday's defeat was the first the Mocs, who earned 36 votes in the Preseason NABC Division II Coaches' Poll and are ranked 15th in the Preseason D2SIDA National Media Poll, since suffering a 107-102 loss at home to Barry on Jan. 3, 2015. In addition, it was also the Mocs first loss in a season opener since suffering a 73-43 loss at the Lakeland Center to USF to open the the 2011-12 season.
Senior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) led the way offensively for the Mocs with 22 points, including going 10-for-12 from the free throw line. He had 18 of his 22 points after halftime.
In addition to Travis, junior guards Michael Volovic (Carmel, Ind.) and Sheldon Zablotny (Erie, Pa.) each tallied 16 points in the loss, but shot a combined 10-for-33 from the field, including going 5-for-18 from the 3-point line. On the day, the Mocs shot 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line.
FSC played Friday's season opener without senior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) and sophomore forward R.J. June (Sanford, Fla.), who both sat out due to injuries. Williams was the Mocs scoring leader during exhibition play as he averaged 19.0 points per game, including scoring 23 in its final exhibition contest at Syracuse last Sunday. As a junior in 2014-15, Williams finished fifth on the team in scoring as he averaged 9.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and shot 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line.
The Mocs, who trailed 36-30 at the half, used an 11-1 run over a span of five minutes to turn a 50-37 deficit into a 51-48 deficit with 11:38 remaining in the game. The run was keyed by six points from Travis.
UWA, who won a school record 22 games a year ago and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, responded with 19-7 run over the next six minutes to push out to a 67-58 lead.
The Mocs, who lost all five starters and six seniors from last season's school record 36 win team that captured the program's second-ever men's basketball national title, wouldn't go away as they scored nine of the next 13 points to pull within 71-67 with 3:06 remaining. The run began with a trey from Zablotny and was capped by Travis hitting 1-of-2 free throws.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Mocs would get as the Tigers, who fell 93-76 to the Mocs in last season's opener, scored six straight points and 11 of the next 13 overall to take an 82-69 lead with 1:08 left in the contest. The Tigers would seal the win by hitting 8-out-9 at the foul line in the final minute of the game.
UWA opened the game by scoring the first four points and led 10-5 when the Mocs used a 6-0 run capped by a trey from freshman forward Joey Morlan (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to take an 11-10 lead just seven minutes into the game. Morlan finished with six points off the bench.
After a lay-up by Dakari Mayo gave the Tigers a 12-11 lead, Morlan hit another trey and Volovic scored on a fast break lay-up to give the Mocs 16-12 lead. UWA, though, woud use an 8-2 run to take a 20-18 lead.
Following two free throws by Moccasin junior guard Trey Moore (Omaha, Neb.) that tied the game at 20 with 5:45 left in the opening half, UWA would respond with a 16-8 run over the next four-plus minutes to push out to a 36-28 advantage. Zablotny capped the first half scoring with a jumper with 53 seconds left to send the Mocs into the locker room trailing by six at the half.
Deontaye Ewing was one of five Tigers to finish in double figures for the game as he scored a team high 17, while Simeon Dennis and Khalil Carter had 15 and 13 points off the bench respectively. Jahmal Lane scored 12 points and had nine rebounds, while Acie Vance chipped in with 10 points in the victory.
Tyler Chaisson led the way on the glass for the Tigers as he pulled down 15 boards, including seven of UWA's 16 offensive boards, while Mayo had seven boards, scored eight points and blocked six shots, including five blocks in the first half.
UWA finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field and 58 percent from the 3-point line as they were 7-for-12 from downtown in the game.
The Mocs did force 16 turnovers, but scored just 15 points off those turnovers, while FSC had 10 turnovers that led to 11 Tiger points.
Senior forward Dylan Karell (North Miami Beach, Fla.) led the way on the glass for the Mocs with a collegiate career high of 10 in his Moccasin debut. Karell's previous career high in rebounds was eight against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 22, 2014.
Both teams were strong at the free throw line in Friday's game as the Mocs were 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) at the line, while UWA was 25-for-32 (78.1 percent). The two teams did combine to shoot 43 free throws after halftime as UWA shot 27 and the Mocs shot 16.
The Mocs will look to rebound and avoid an 0-2 start to the season on Saturday, Nov. 14 as they conclude play in the SSC/GSC Challenge with a 1 p.m. game against Delta State (1-0). The Statesmen opened the season with an 87-77 win over Eckerd in Friday's opening game of the SSC/GSC Challenge.
