Mocs Set to Face Lynn in South Regional Championship Game

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LAKELAND - And then there were two. After two days and six games, only teams and one game remain to determine who will represent the South Region in the 2015 NCAA Division II Elite Eight and those two teams will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening at Jenkins Field House in the championship game of the South Regional Tournament.

Tuesday's regional championship game will pit No. 1 ranked and region top seed Florida Southern against region No. 6 seed Lynn for the right to advance to next week's Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The Division II Elite Eight will run from March 25-28. 

The Moccasins, who have won a school record 21 consecutive games and have tied the school mark for single season wins with 32 and has a 32-1 record on the season, earned its 11th appearance in the regional championship game following its 84-81 win on Sunday over No. 4 seeded West Georgia and are seeking its 10th regional title and second in the last three years, while Lynn, who is sporting a 21-9 record, earned its first trip to the regional final since 2005 thanks to its 90-82 win over 12th-ranked and No. 2 seeded Barry in Sunday's first regional semifinal.

"Lynn is really playing unbelievable right now. They're getting up and really pressuring the ball extremely well," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said. "They're playing with a lot of confidence. It will be a heck of a game. It's a shame we're both in the same region and you have to play somebody for a fourth time, but that's the way it is."

Tuesday's game will mark the fourth meeting this season between the two Sunshine State Conference foes as the Mocs have won the first three games this season, including defeating the Fighting Knights, 79-66, in the SSC Tournament semifinals on March 7. FSC holds a 35-9 all-time lead in the series and the Mocs have won 13 straight games in the series since Lynn earned a 70-69 win in Lakeland on Feb. 21, 2009. The two teams have met just once previously in the NCAA Tournament as the Mocs defeated Lynn, 77-69 in the 1999 South Regional semifinals in Memphis. 

The Fighting Knights, who prior to this season hadn't posted a winning record since going 15-13 in 2009-10, are looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the third time in school history and first time since 2005 when the Fighting Knights fell 76-61 to Virginia Union in the national semifinals. Lynn also advanced to the Elite Eight in 1997 under current head coach Jeff Price. Price's 1996-97 squad went 28-3 and fell 79-58 to Northern Kentucky in the national semifinals. 

Meanwhile, FSC is looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the 10th time in school history and the Mocs have won nine regional championships and were the regional runner-up in 2009. FSC is 9-1 all-time in regional title games with the lone loss being an 82-72 setback to Christian Brothers in the finals of the 2009 South Regional Tournament in Lakeland. 

The Mocs are also trying to become just the first league school to win multiple regional titles since 2001. In addition to FSC, who won the regional title in 2013, the other SSC schools to win a region title since 2001 are Tampa (2001), Eckerd (2003), Rollins (2004) and Lynn (2005). 

Tuesday's game will feature a match-up of two teams that like to play pressure defense and score a lot of points on the offensive end of the floor as Lynn is third nationally in steals per game as they average 11.5 and blocked shots as they average 6.2 blocks per game and they are scoring nearly 78 points per game, while the Mocs are fifth nationally in scoring as they are averaging 88.8 points per game and are second in the SSC in steals (9.1 per game) and second nationally in turnover margin (+7.1).

In two NCAA Tournament games, Lynn is averaging 85 points per game and is shooting 47 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line and is averaging 7.5 steals per game and has blocked 14 shots in two South Regional games. 

"Lynn really took Alabama-Huntsville out of everything I thought they wanted to in the win in their first game on Saturday and I thought yesterday against Barry that they jumped on them right away," the Mocs coach said. "The key for us will be that we'll need to get off to a good start in tomorrow's game."

Leading the way offensively for the Fighting Knights on the season is senior guard Aaron Harrison as he is 16.4 points per game and in the NCAA Tournament he is averaging 18.0 points per game. In addition to Harrison, junior guard Ben Berry is averaging 11.8 points per game and is shooting 38.9 percent from the 3-point line on the year and has hit 7-of-11 treys (63.6 percent) from the 3-point line in the NCAA Tournament.

Lynn's scoring leader in the NCAA Tournament is junior guard Fred Landers as he is averaging 21.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line. On the season, he has raised his season scoring average to 10.2 points per game.  

"(Fred) Landers and (David) Johnson are playing at a high level and (Ben) Berry is really shooting the ball very well right now," Darner said. "We know how good Berry is, how good Harrison and Russell Wilson are. We played very well against them all three times and I'm sure they'll be ready to face us again on Tuesday."

The Mocs come into Tuesday's game averaging 88.8 points per game and have scored 80 or more points in 27 games, including three consecutive games of scoring 80 or more points. Along with averaging 88.8 points per game, the Mocs are shooting 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line and in the NCAA Tournament this season, FSC is averaging 86.5 points per game and allowing 74.5 points per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line. 

Leading the way for the Mocs are senior All-American guard Kevin Capers (Winter Haven, Fla.), who is averaging 21.0 points per game and has scored in double figures in 31 games this season and has scored in double figures in 20 consecutive games. Capers, who is the two-time SSC and Daktronics South Region Player of the Year, is the second leading active scorer in Division II as he has tallied 2,226 points and is the active Division II leader in free throws made (736), free throws attempted (985) and steals (249). 

In addition to Capers, three other Mocs are averaging in double figures as senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) is averaging 13.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 47 percent from the field and 47 percent from the 3-point line, while junior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) is averaging 10.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and senior guard Tyler Kelly (Pickerington, Ohio) is averaging 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second in assists (122) and leads the team in made 3-pointers with 67.

FSC has four players averaging in double figures in the South Regional Tournament as Capers is averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while junior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) is averaging 14.0 points and 6.0 boards per game. As a team, the Mocs are shooting 43 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line.

The winner of the South Regional will meet the winner of the East Regional in one of four national quarterfinal games at the Ford Center on March 25. The national semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, March 26 and will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network and the national championship game is set for 2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, March 28 and will be televised nationally by CBS.