Mocs Looking to Extend Win Streak to 14 Games, Host Lynn Saturday Night

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 No. 1 in this week's 12th regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mocs have been ranked in the Top 10 for 26 of the past 28 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 198 games. Only Florida has won more games (203) over that same span than the Mocs. 
* - FSC stands 18th all-time in wins in NCAA Division II with 1,363 wins and is one of 23 D-II programs to record more than 1,300 all-time victories.
* - The Mocs have now won 20 or more games for eight 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 206 all-time victories.

TOP-RANKED MOCS RETURN HOME SATURDAY TO HOST LYNN, SEEK 14TH STRAIGHT VICTORY
Top-ranked Florida Southern (24-1 overall, 12-1 SSC) is set to play its fourth consecutive game as the No. 1 ranked team in Division II on Saturday, Feb. 21 as the Moccasins return home to Jenkins Field House (1,800) as they open a two-game homestand against Lynn (18-5 overall, 10-3 SSC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game will mark the second meeting this season between the two teams as the Mocs earned an 87-77 win in Boca Raton against then 24th-ranked Lynn on Jan. 24.  

FSC is playing its 16th home game of the season on Saturday as the Mocs are 14-1 at home this year and have won five straight games on its homecourt since suffering its first loss of the season on Jan. 3 against then 11th-ranked Barry and are 5-1 at home in SSC play. Dating to last season, the Mocs have won 12 of its last 14 SSC games at home dating to the 2013-14 season. Saturday's game with Lynn will mark FSC's first home game since earning a 70-56 victory over Saint Leo on Feb. 11. The game will also the second of a doubleheader at Jenkins Field House as the Moccasin women (11-12, 5-8 SSC) will look to snap a two-game losing streak as they face the Lynn women (7-15, 1-12 SSC) at 5:30 p.m.

FSC, who is once again ranked No. 1 in this week's 12th regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, enters play Saturday looking to extend its win streak to 14 consecutive games since suffering its first and only loss of the season at home on Jan. 3 to Barry. FSC's latest victory on its current 13-game win streak came less than 72 hours ago as the Mocs collected an 86-65 win at Eckerd. The win over Eckerd followed the Mocs 82-79 overtime win this past Saturday at Florida Tech and FSC's home win over Saint Leo on Feb. 11. Those three wins followed FSC's home win nearly two weeks ago over Nova Southeastern (82-58) and the NSU victory followed the Mocs 88-79 win at Miami Shores against then third-ranked Barry on Feb. 4. The win at Barry came just four days after the Mocs concluded its regular season non-conference schedule with a 93-67 win at Palm Beach Atlantic. The victory over PBA extended the Mocs regular season non-conference win streak to 31 consecutive games dating to the 2012-13 season and came just two days after the Mocs closed out the first half of SSC play with its 74-70 home win over Rollins.

Along with picking up wins over Nova Southeastern, Barry, Palm Beach Atlantic and Rollins during its current 10-game win streak, FSC has also collected home wins over Eckerd (80-62) and Florida Tech (109-96) and road victories over Saint Leo (71-66), Nova Southeastern (77-74), Tampa (81-75) and Lynn (87-77). The loss to Barry in its SSC opener on Jan. 3 was FSC's first loss of the season after opening the 2014-15 campaign by winning its first 11 games.

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 12 straight wins in SSC play, the Mocs have now won 13 of its last 16 conference games dating to last season, including winning nine of its last 10 SSC road games with the only loss being a 71-69 setback in its final regular season road game last season at Tampa. FSC comes into Saturday's third to last regular season game sporting a 24-1 overall record and are in sole possession of first place in the SSC with a 12-1 record. With its win over Barry on Feb. 4, the Mocs achieved its eighth consecutive 20 win season and has posted a 76-12 overall record and a 35-9 record in SSC since the beginning of the 2012-13 season. 

13 GAME WIN STREAK IS THIRD LONGEST ACTIVE STREAK IN DIVISION II     
FSC comes into Saturday's home game  with Lynn having won 13 consecutive games, which is currently the third longest active winning streak in Division II men's basketball. Augustana (25-1) currently holds the longest active win streak in Division II as they have won 18 straight games, while Mount Olive (25-2) is second as they have won 14 straight game and FSC is third on the list as they won 13 straight games.
  
FSC RANKED NO. 1 AGAIN IN NABC/D-II COACHES' POLL
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Mocs ascended to the top spot in the NABC/Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll.  The No. 1 ranking is the first-ever for the Mocs since the Dec. 18, 2000. FSC has now been ranked No. 1 for  a total of 19 weeks all-time, which is the seventh most weeks at No. 1 in Division II history as they remained atop the poll that was released on Feb. 18. In fact, only two other SSC programs have been ranked No. 1 all-time - Tampa and Rollins.
 
SSC WIN STREAK REACHES 12 STRAIGHT GAMES
Thanks to its 86-65 road win on Wednesday at Eckerd, the Mocs extended its SSC win streak to 12 consecutive games since falling to Barry in its league opener earlier this season. The 12 game conference win streak is the longest of the season for an SSC team and is the third longest win streak in league play in Division II. The only longer win streaks in conference play this season are 13 straight wins by Mount Olive and 18 straight league wins by Augustana.

CAPERS BECOMES NO. 2 SCORER IN SCHOOL HISTORY, ECLIPSES 2,000 POINT BARRIER
Moccasin senior guard Kevin Capers is continuing his climb up the school's all-time scoring chart as he enters Saturday's Lynn game having scored 2,068 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 home win over Florida Tech on Jan. 17 and eclipsed the 2,000 point barrier following his 27 point effort against Nova Southeastern in Lakeland on Feb. 7.

Through 25 games this season, Capers, who is the second leading active scorer in Division II, has scored 534 points and is averaging 21.4 points per game, which leads the SSC and is 18th nationally in the latest Division II statistics. He has scored in double figures in 23 of 25 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 17 of his last 27 outings, including 15 times this season. 

FSC-LYNN SERIES 
Saturday's game with Lynn will mark the 43rd all-time meeting between the two schools as FSC holds a 33-9 edge in the series. The Mocs, who picked up an 87-77 win earlier this season in Boca Raton, have won 11 straight games and 12 of the last 13 games 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 15-4 edge at Lynn and leads 4-1 on neutral courts. The Mocs have won eight straight 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 15-3 all-time against Lynn as FSC's coach.  

SCOUTING LYNN 
Lynn (18-5 overall, 10-3 SSC) comes into Saturday's action having won four straight games and six of its last seven overall with its only loss being a 66-61 setback at home to Tampa on Feb. 4. The Fighting Knights, who earned five votes 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.

Since the beginning of the 2015 calendar year, Lynn has posted an 11-3 record with the losses coming at home against Barry (80-72), FSC (87-77) and Tampa (66-61).  Lynn's other losses this season came in double overtime to Midwestern State (90-83) and at home to Winston-Salem State (72-60). 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 Tampa (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 before dropping back-to-back games to Barry and FSC.

Since that loss to the Mocs, Lynn has posted a 6-1 record. Saturday's game will mark Lynn's 10th road game of the season for the Fighting Knights as they are 9-0 away from home this season, which is tied for the third longest active road win streak in Division II. While they have been strong on the road this season, Lynn has also been strong at home this season as all five of their losses have come at home this year. 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 161-67 record and is 330-219 in 20 years as a collegiate head coach.     

Price's team features two players averaging in double figures led by senior guard Aaron Harrison. Harrison is fifth in the league in scoring (15.9 ppg), is ninth in rebounding (6.2 rpg) and leads the league and is third nationally in steals as he averages 3.0 per game. On the year, he has 20 double-digit scoring efforts and has collected three or more steals in 14 games and has had two double-doubles. He is shooting 45 percent from the field, 32 percent from the 3-point line and 79 percent from the free throw line. In addition to Harrison, the second double figure scorer is junior guard Ben Berry, who is a transfer from Northern Oklahoma College, is averaging 11.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, but in SSC play 15.1 point per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line in 13 SSC contests. On the season, he is shooting 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 78 percent from the free throw line and has scored in double figures in 15 games, including nine times in his last 10 games.

The third leading scorer for the Fighting Knights is junior forward Fred Landers as he is averaging 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field and 86 percent at the free throw line and has blocked 21 shots and collected 32 steals in 22 games.        

Other key performers for the Fighting Knights are junior guard/forward David Johnson, junior forward Pavle Raickovic and junior point guard Russell Wilson.

Johnson is averaging 9.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field and has reached double figures in eight games, while Raickovic is averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1,0 blocks per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line and has blocked 24 shots on the year and Wilson, who is a transfer from Samford, is averaging 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and is third in the SSC in both assists (5.6) and steals (2.3). He is shooting 42 percent from the field and has had five or more assists in 14 games, including 14 assists against Midwestern State. 

As a team, the Fighting Knights are one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are second in scoring defense (67.9), second in both field goal percentage defense (42.2 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (34.0 percent) and they are second nationally in steals (13.0 spg) and are second nationally in blocked shots as they average 6.4 blocks per game. On offense, Lynn is averaging 78.3 points per game, which is third best in the SSC and has scored 80 or more points in 10 games, but has been held under 75 points in five of its last six games. In addition, Lynn is shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 33.6 percent from the 3-point line and 72.7 percent at the free throw line and is outscoring its foes by 9.8 points per game, which is third-best in the SSC.