Box Score ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Southern shot 61 percent from the field in the second half en route to posting an 86-65 victory over Eckerd in Sunshine State Conference action at the McArthur Center on the Eckerd College campus.
With the victory, the No. 1 ranked Moccasins extended its win streak to 13 straight games and improved to 24-1 overall and 12-1 in the SSC. Eckerd fell to 11-13 overall and 4-10 in the SSC. The 13 game winning streak is currently tied for the second longest active streak in Division II.
"I thought we put together two really good halves of basketball tonight," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following his team's ninth straight road victory. "It is tough to play here at Eckerd and I thought we really came out tonight and played well and hit some shots and did a good job guarding them."
FSC's win was even sweeter following the game as fourth-ranked Barry suffered an 88-72 loss on the road Wednesday at Florida Tech. With that loss, the Mocs took over sole possession of first place in the SSC standings with three regular season games remaining. Barry fell to 20-3 overall and 11-2 in the SSC with the setback.
In Wednesday's game, the Mocs led 43-33 at half, but used a 17-4 run over a span of four minutes in the second half to turn a 63-53 lead into an 80-57 advantage. The run was keyed by eight points from junior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) and capped by a trey from senior guard Tyler Logan (Landover, Md.).
For the game, five Mocs scored in double figures led by a game-high 20 points from senior All-American guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.). Along with the 20 points, Capers also pulled down nine boards and dished out seven assists.
In addition to Capers, senior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) had 18 points, including 14 in the first half, while Travis added 15 points off the bench. Junior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) had 13 points and Logan added 10 in the victory.
"I thought 'Nique and Dylan really played well tonight and were able to hit some shots," the Mocs coach added.
Eckerd, who shot 39 percent from the field and 21 percent from the 3-point line for the game, was paced offensively by 13 points off the bench from Matt Beneduci. Jerrick Stevenson added 11 points for the Tritons, who have now lost five straight games.
In the first half, the Mocs used an 17-2 run over a span of four-plus minutes to take a 28-12 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.
Following that run, which was aided by six points from Kelly and five from Logan, Eckerd answered with an 21-11 run that was capped by a Beneduci jumper to pull the Tritons within six points at 39-33 with 2:21 remaining. The Mocs would score the final four points of the half to go into the locker room at halftime holding a 43-33 edge.
On the night, the Mocs finished shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from the 3-point line. It snapped a 19-game streak for the Mocs of shooting under 50 percent from the field.
"I thought we moved the ball really well in the second half and that led to us getting some easy baskets," said Darner, who is now 206-72 in his ninth season as the Mocs coach.
FSC will seek its 14th consecutive victory this coming Saturday, Feb. 21 as the Mocs return home to Jenkins Field House to host Lynn (18-5 overall, 10-3 SSC) in a 7:30 p.m. SSC tilt. The Mocs picked up an 87-77 win over the Fighting Knights in Boca Raton on Jan. 24.
"It is another huge game for us on Saturday night," said Darner. "We need to be ready to go on Saturday against a very good Lynn team."
