Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern scored 51 second half points and outscored Nova Southeastern by 18 points after halftime en route to posting an 82-58 Sunshine State Conference victory over the Sharks at Jenkins Field House.
With the victory, the second-ranked Moccasins extended its win streak 10 straight games and improved to 21-1 overall and 9-1 in the SSC. Nova Southeastern fell to 9-11 overall and 5-6 in the SSC.
Thanks to its two wins this week, including an 88-79 win on Wednesday at third-ranked Barry and a loss on it home court to Carson-Newman on Wednesday by current No. 1 ranked Lincoln Memorial, the Mocs are poised to move up to the top spot in this coming week's NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll.
"I told our guys on Wednesday night when we found out Lincoln Memorial had lost and since I've been here, we've been No. 2 five or six times and have never gotten to No. 1," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following his 203rd win as FSC's coach. "We've lost and the No. 1 team has lost the same day or same week as us when we could've been No. 1, so its time for us to get to No. 1.
"Our guys deserve it, they've worked extremely hard and it would be great for our players, our program and our school."
In Saturday's game, the Mocs rode the hot play of senior All-American guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.) as he finished the game with a game-high 27 points and added nine rebounds. With his 27 points, Capers eclipsed the 2,000 career point barrier as he has now scored 2,016 points in 116 career games as a Moc. He is one of only two Moccasin men's players to ever score more than 2,000 points in a career and one of six active NCAA players that has scored 2,000 or more points in a career.
"What an unbelievable accomplishment for Kevin," Darner said when asked about Capers' milestone. "Not a lot of guys in college basketball have scored 2,000 points. It's amazing what Kevin's done here at Florida Southern."
Capers eclisped the 2,000 point barrier on two free throws following a technical foul on NSU's Harrison Goodrick just a little over three minutes into the second half. Capers scored 19 of his 27 points after halftime.
In addition to Capers, junior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) chipped in with 12 points off the bench, while senior forward Bubby Johnson (Waldorf, Md.) posted a second straight double-double as he had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the victory.
In the first half, the Mocs offense struggled with its offense as they scored just 31 points and shot 39 percent from the field and 18 percent (3-for-17) from the 3-point line as they held a 31-25 edge at the half.
"I thought we got some decent shots in the first half, but we didn't make them. We had two that rolled around and came out and we got a break-away lay-up that we missed," Darner said about his team's first half woes. "But in the second half, we got the same shots and just made them and that was the big difference tonight."
The Mocs followed up its first half performance by shooting 55 percent from the field and 53 percent from the 3-point line. FSC hit 17 of its 31 second half shot attempts, including shooting 9-of-17 from the 3-point line.
"We played well tonight. I know the first half wasn't as well as we could play, but I thought the second half we played really well against a Nova team that came in playing well," said Darner.
NSU came into Saturday's game having won three straight games and over its last three games they were averaging 14 made 3-pointers per game and shooting 43 percent from the 3-point line.
The Moccasin defense, though, held the Sharks to just 30 percent (8-for-27) from the 3-point line and also outrebounded the Sharks, 46-31, including picking up 11 offensive rebounds.
"They (NSU) are hard to guard on defense as you don't see their offense very often. It's not a conventional offense as it has a lot of the Princeton style in it," said the Mocs coach. "I thought we guarded well and they didn't shoot it as well as they have been shooting, but a lot of that had to do with the pressure we put on them in the backcourt."
After NSU opened the second half on a 12-10 run to pull within 41-37 on a three-pointer by Maurice Fuller, the Mocs responded with a 34-12 run over the next 10 minutes to push out to a 75-49 lead. The run began with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Michael Volovic (Carmel, Ind.) and was capped by a trey from Capers. The run was aided by 15 points from Capers.
The Mocs lead would eventually reach 30 points following two free throws from senior forward Daniel Turner (McCordsville, Ind.) with 1:51 left in the game. Turner's two free throws gave the Mocs an 82-52 lead.
NSU, though, would score the game's final six points to set the final margin.
Fuller led the way for NSU with 12 points, including scoring nine of the Sharks 33 second-half points. In addition to Fuller, Goodrick added nine points and 10 rebounds, while Troy Spears also scored nine points off the bench. The Mocs held NSU's leading scorer on the season, Chris Page, to just seven points as the junior guard/forward entered the game second in the SSC in scoring at 19.9 points per game.
Moccasin senior guard Tyler Logan (Landover, Md.) fell just short of double figures as he hit three treys in the second half to finish with nine points.
On the night, the Mocs shot 46 percent from the floor and 35 percent from the 3-point line and was 8-for-10 (80 percent) at the line, while NSU shot 36 percent from the field and 30 percent from long distance.
Both teams finished 13 turnovers and dished out 22 assists on its 31 made baskets as Logan led the way with a career-high five tying assists, while Capers and senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) each had four assists in the win.
The Mocs will continue its two-game homestand this coming Wednesday, Feb. 11 as they host Saint Leo (12-11, 4-7 SSC) in a 7:30 p.m. SSC tilt at Jenkins Field House. The Lions snapped its four-game losing skid on Saturday with a 69-58 home win over Rollins.
