Mocs Open Quest for South Regional Title Saturday Against No. 8 Seeded Benedict

Moccasin NCAA Tournament Notes

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SOUTH REGIONAL WEBCAST

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 finished the 2014-15 season ranked No. 1 in this week's 15th and final NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mocs have been ranked in the Top 10 for 29 of the past 31 regular season polls, including being ranked No. 1 the past five weeks.
* - FSC returned 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 204 games. Only Florida has won more games (204) over that same span than the Mocs. 
* - FSC stands 18th all-time in wins in NCAA Division II with 1,368 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 the eighth consecutive season. FSC is one of just three Division II schools (West Liberty and Findlay) to post 20 win campaigns the past seven seasons. West Liberty has also won 20 games this season for the eighth straight year.* - FSC has won an SSC-best 22 regular season titles and 23 SSC Tournament titles and is making its 29th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance this season, which is third-most all-time in Division II.
* - The Mocs have advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament the past eight 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 11th consecutive tournament berth in 2014-15. 
* - Moccasin head coach Linc Darner is in his ninth season in Lakeland and he has won six SSC Coach of the Year honors and is second on the school's all-time win list with 212 all-time victories.

TOP-RANKED MOCS SET TO MAKE EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE, WILL FACE SIAC CHAMPION BENEDICT IN SOUTH REGIONAL FIRST ROUND          
Top-ranked Florida Southern (30-1 overall record), who are the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II South Regional for the third straight season, is set to make its eighth consecutive and 29th all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 14 when the Moccasins host No. 8 seed and SIAC Tournament Champion Benedict (19-11) in the first round of the 2015 South Regional Tournament at Jenkins Field House (1,800) on the FSC campus in Lakeland, Fla. Tip-off for Saturday's quarterfinal round game is slated for 5 p.m. EDT and will be the third of four quarterfinal games at Jenkins Field House.

The Moccasins, who took home its 22nd regular season SSC title and won its fourth consecutive and 23rd all-time SSC Tournament title this past Sunday with a 93-83 win over then 14th-ranked Barry in this year's tournament title game, enters the NCAA Tournament having won 19 consecutive games since suffering its first and only loss at home on Jan. 3 to then 11th-ranked Barry, 107-102. The Mocs won its third straight SSC regular season title after winning a league record 15 games. The 19 game winning streak is currently the longest active streak in Division II and is also a school record for the most consecututive wins in a season. The Mocs latest win in this streak came last Sunday with its 93-83 win over then 14th-ranked Barry in the finals of the SSC Tournament.

FSC, who finished the 2014-15 ranked No. 1 in this week's 15th and final NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, enters the NCAA Tournament looking to win its second South Regional title in the last three years and advance to the Elite Eight for the 10th time in school history. The Mocs, who have earned the No. 1 seed for the third straight season and fifth time since 2008. FSC enters the NCAA Tournament sporting a 30-1 overall record and they finished SSC play with a 15-1 record. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Mocs have posted an 83-12 record, including going 39-9 in SSC games.  

The Mocs are one of three Division II schools and one of six NCAA schools overall that have 30 or more games this season. Along with collecting an 82-67 win in its regular season finale at Rollins, the Mocs have also picked up an 87-79 home win over Tampa and picked up an 87-66 home win over Lynn. The win over Lynn followed the Mocs 86-65 win on Feb. 18 at Eckerd and its 82-79 overtime win at Florida Tech on Valentines Day. Those three wins came after FSC's home win over Saint Leo (70-56) on Feb. 11 and followed FSC's home win nearly three 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 15 straight wins in SSC play this season, the Mocs have now won 16 of its last 19 conference games dating to last season, including winning 10 of its last 11 SSC road games with the only loss being a 71-69 setback in its final regular season road game last season at Tampa. With its win over Barry on Feb. 4, the Mocs achieved its eighth consecutive 20 win season. 

MOCS MAKING EIGHTH STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE
FSC is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season as the Moccasins have posted a 38-30 record in the tournament and is making its 29th all-time appearance in the tournament overall. The Mocs have won nine regional championships and have played in nine Elite Eights and won the SSC's lone national championship in men's basketball in 1981 and finished as national runner-up in 1982. In addition, FSC has also had four third-place finishes. The 29 all-time Division II tournament appearances is third-most in D-II, while the 38 tournament wins are fifth most in D-II history. In its previous seven NCAA Tournament appearances, the Mocs have advanced to two regional finals (2009, 2013), one Elite Eight (2013) and has posted a 6-7 record. 

FSC ALL-TIME IN POSTSEASON PLAY
Saturday's NCAA South Regional quarterfinal match-up with Benedict will mark the Mocs' 152nd all-time postseason game as FSC has compiled a 106-45 record in postseason play, including being 68-15 in the SSC Tournament and is 38-30 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Mocs have made eight straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and have won three of its last four South Regional games with the only loss being its 98-95 setback to Tuskegee in the first round of last year's South Regional Tournament. 

FSC ONE OF TWO D-II SCHOOLS TO PLAY IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PAST SEVEN SEASONS
FSC enters this year's NCAA Tournament as one of only two Division II schools to have qualified for the postseason the past eight seasons. The Mocs are joined on the list by Seattle Pacific, who is making its 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season. In addition to FSC and Seattle Pacific, five Division II schools will be making their seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament this season and those five schools are Arkansas Tech, Bellarmine, Indiana (Pa.), Metro State and Midwestern State. 

MOCS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Mocs are making its eighth straight and 29th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season. In addition, FSC is hosting the South Regional Tournament for the 12th time this season and the third consecutive season as the Mocs won three games in 2013 to claim its ninth-ever regional crown and advance to the Elite Eight and then lost in the first round last season to Tuskegee.

The 38 NCAA Tournament wins is the total amount of NCAA Tournament wins for the seven other teams in this year's South Regional field. FSC is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time and the third consecutive season they have earned the No. 1 seed. Two of the eight teams in year's South Regional are repeat qualifiers from last season. The three repeat qualifers are FSC, Barry and West Alabama.

MOCS TAKE HOME 22ND SSC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP  
This past Sunday, March 8, the Moccasins took home its 23rd SSC Tournament Championship as it defeated No. 2 seed Barry 93-83 in the championship game at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. It was FSC's fourth consecutive SSC Tournament championship as they also took home the title in 2011, 2012 and 2013. With its win over Barry  in this year's SSC Tournament title game, FSC improved to 23-4 all-time in SSC Tournament championship games. Since arriving at FSC prior to the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Mocs head coach Linc Darner has led the school to six SSC Tournament titles, all of which have come in the last eight seasons. 

MOCS CLINCH 22ND ALL-TIME SSC REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Thanks to posting wins in the final week of the regular season against Tampa and Rollins, the Moccasins were able to earn the 2014-15 SSC regular season title. The regular season title was the 22nd all-time for the Mocs and its third straight regular season title as they shared the title in 2012-13 with Saint Leo and won the title outright the past two seasons. In addition, since becoming the Mocs coach in 2006-07, Linc Darner has led FSC to six regular season titles in nine seasons and the Mocs have also won five SSC Tournament titles, including claiming the tournament crown the past three seasons.  

19 GAME WIN STREAK IS TIED FOR LONGEST ACTIVE STREAK IN DIVISION II
FSC comes into the NCAA Tournament having having won 19 consecutive games, which is currently the longest active winning streak in Division II men's basketball. Bridgeport has the second longest active win streak in Division II as they have won nine straight games, while Gannon (Pa.) and Montevallo have each won eight straight games. 

19 GAME WIN STREAK SETS A NEW SCHOOL RECORD
Thanks to earning its 93-83 win on Sunday over Barry in the SSC Tournament Championship game, FSC extended its win streak to 19 straight games, which established a school record for consecutive victories. Prior to winning 19 straight games, the previous school record for consecutive wins was 18, which was set both last season  and in 1999-00. 

FOUR MOCS NAMED TO SSC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Thanks to four-peating as SSC Tournament champion last Sunday, the Mocs had four of its players named to SSC All-Tournament Team as Kevin Capers, Stephen Battle, Bubby Johnson and Dominique Williams were named to the six-player team that was selected by the media covering the tournament.

Capers was named the SSC Tournament MOP for the second consecutive season after averaging 23.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game in FSC's three tournament games, including scoring 28 points in the Mocs tournament championship game win over Barry. Battle averaged 12.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game at the tournament, while Johnson averaged 9.3 points and 7.3 points per game and shot 61 percent from the field and Williams averaged 10.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and shot 54 percent from the 3-point line in the Mocs three tournament games.

CAPERS REPEATS AS DAKTRONICS SOUTH REGION PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior guard Kevin Capers picked up another postseason honor on Friday, March 13 as he was named a First-Team Daktronics All-South Region selection and was also tabbed as the region's Player of the Year for the second straight season. He was one of two Mocs selected as senior forward Stephen Battle was named a second team selection. In addition to the two Mocs selected, four other SSC players were also named an All-Region selections.  The other SSC players honored were Barry junior forward Yunio Barrueta, Nova Southeastern junior guard Chris Page, Tampa senior guard Jordan Davis and Lynn senior guard Aaron Harrison. Barrueta and Page were tabbed first team selections, while Battle was joined on the second team by Davis and Harrison.
 
MOCS ONE OF TWO DIVISION II SCHOOLS TO POST EIGHT STRAIGHT 20 WIN SEASONS   
FSC is one two NCAA Division II schools that hve won 20 or more games for eight consecutive seasons this season (2007-08 through 2014-15). The Mocs are joined on the list by West Liberty, who is 26-3 this season heading into this week's NCAA Tournament. 

CAPERS REPEATS AS SSC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
When the SSC announced its postseason awards on Wednesday, March 4, Moccasin junior guard  Kevin Capers was selected as the SSC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after finishing the regular season as the conference's leading scorer and leading the Mocs in steals and is second in assists. In the regular season, he had 26 double-digit scoring games, including scoring 20 or more points in 16 of those games.

With his Player of the Year selection, Capers, who was also named a First-Team All-SSC selection for the second straight year, became just the third SSC player win Player of the Year accolades multiple times as Rollins' Nick Wolf was named the Player of the Year in both 2008-09 and 2010-11 and Tampa's DeCarlo Deveaux was honored in both 1992-93 and 1993-94.

In addition to Capers, the other Mocs to win SSC Player of the Year honors were Chris Brooks in 2004, Christophe Humbert in 2001, Innocent Kere in 2000 and Corey Turner, who shared honors with Florida Tech's Brandon Palmer in 1999. 

DARNER NAMED SSC COACH OF THE YEAR FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Moccasin head coach Linc Darner became the first FSC coach to win SSC Coach of the Year honors six times as he was named this season's SSC Coach of the Year on Wednesday after leading the Mocs to a 15-1 league record and a third consecutive SSC regular season title. Darner was also honored in consecutive seasons (2008-10) and has now been honored the past three seasons, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Darner is one of two FSC coaches that has won at least four SSC Coach of the Year honors as George Scholz (1983, '85, '87, '89) was the only other FSC coach to be named SSC Coach of the Year at least four times.

Darner is also only the third coach in league history to win six Coach of the Year honors as he is joined on the list by Rollins' Tom Klusman and Tampa's Richard Schmidt.

THREE MOCS EARN ALL-SSC HONORS, TRAVIS NAMED TO ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Along with naming Kevin Capers as the SSC Player of the Year and Linc Darner being named the SSC Coach of the Year, the Mocs put three players on one of the two All-SSC Teams and also placed one player on the SSC All-Newcomer Team. Capers was named a repeat first team selection, while senior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) and senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) were both named Second-Team All-SSC selections. Junior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) was named the SSC All-Newcomer Team and is the first Moccasin to earn All-Newcomer Team honors since Capers and Seth Evans were both selected in 2011-12.  

MOCS RECORD EIGHTH STRAIGHT WINNING SEASON IN 2014-15
With 30 wins in its first 31 games this season, the Mocs have assured themselves of its eighth consecutive winning season in 2014-15. The Mocs haven't posted a losing season since going 8-20 in Darner's first season at the helm of the Mocs in 2006-07. Since that losing season, FSC has reeled off eight straight 20 win campaigns. In fact, the Mocs have had just two losing seasons in the last 30 years and only three overall since the beginning of the 1977-78 season. Prior to its 8-20 campaign in 2006-07, the Mocs had posted 22 straight winning seasons.

FSC-BENEDICT SERIES       
Saturday's game with Benedict will mark just the fourth meeting between the two schools as FSC has won both of meetings all-time as they picked up a 78-71 win in Lakeland during the 2012-13 season and then picked up a 75-57 win last season in Columbia, S.C. Benedict will be the fourth team from the SIAC that the Mocs will have played this season as they are 3-0 against SIAC foes. This will the third consecutive season that Benedict and FSC will have met on the hardwood, but the first time in the postseason. Darner is 2-0 against Benedict as the Mocs coach.    
   
BENEDICT IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Benedict is making its 10th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2013 when the Tigers advanced to the South Regional semifinals in Lakeland. The Tigers are 3-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the regional final in 2008 when the South Regional Tournament was hosted in Lakeland by the Mocs.    

SCOUTING BENEDICT
Benedict (19-11) will be making its 10th all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament this weekend and its first since losing the to Alabama-Huntsville in the semifinals of the 2013 SSC Tournament in Lakeland. The Tigers, like the Mocs, come into the NCAA Tournament having won five straight games, including winning four games in a span of six days to capture the 2015 SIAC Tournament and claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the championship game of the SIAC Tournament, Benedict collected a 63-61 win over Lane, which came one day after picking up a 60-58 win over Morehouse in the semifinals.

Benedict is sporting a 19-11 record and finished 11-7 in the SIAC standings. The Tigers, who have have posted 11 straight winning seasons and have advancd to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 12 years, are under the direction of 13th year head coach Fred Watson (Benedict, '99), who has compiled a 267-115 record at his alma mater. Watson has led the school to eight 20-plus win seasons and is one win shy of winning 20 or moe games.

On the season, the Tigers are 10-6 away from home, including posting a 4-1 record on neutral courts and is 9-5 at home on the year.

Leading the way for the Tigers is senior guard Andrew Crawford. Crawford is averaging 12.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and 88 percent at the free throw line. He is averaging 3.0 made treys per game, which is 34th nationally in the latest NCAA statistics and he has connected on 89 of his 217 3-point field goal attempts. In addition to Crawford, senior forward Deonte Johnson is averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, while junior guard Brennan Reynard is averaging 11.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, which is 23rd nationally. Reynard also is 10th nationally in steals as he averages 2.7 per game. 

Other key performers for the Tigers are junior guard Jordan Smith and freshman center Roberto Mantovani. Smith is averaging 10.3 points and 2.3 boards per game and is shooting 41 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line and Mantovani is averaging 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds  per game and has blocked a team-high 19 shots.       

As a team, Benedict is averaging 70.4 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line and has scored 70 or more points in two of its last five games. In addition, Benedict has a +1.0 rebound margin and averages 7.0 steals per game. On defense, Benedict is surrendering 65.8 points per game and its foes are shooting 41 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.