Mocs Set to Face Southern New Hampshire in Wednesday's Elite Eight Quarterfinal Game

Moccasins' Elite Eight Notes
Southern New Hampshire Elite Eight Notes

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EVANSVILLE - Top-ranked Florida Southern will look to make it 23 wins in a row here on Wednesday as the Moccasins face Southern New Hampshire in the third of four national quarterfinal games at the 2015 NCAA Division II Elite Eight held at the Ford Center. 

The Mocs, who come into Wednesday's game having won a school record 33 games and are sporting a 33-1 record, are making its 10th all-time appearance in the Elite Eight and second in the last three years. 

"We're excited to be back in the Elite Eight. We're excited and we know we have a very tough opponent on Wednesday that's going to do some things we haven't seen all year," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said at Tuesday's Elite Eight Coaches' Press Conference at the Ford Center. "I'm hoping a little of our experience of being on this stage two years ago with a couple of our guards will help this year."

Five players on this year's team, including two starters, senior guards Tyler Kelly and Kevin Capers, were in uniform in Florida Southern's 96-82 loss to Western Washington in the 2013 Elite Eight national quarterfinals at Freedom Hall in Louisville. 

"I know two years ago when we played Western Washington, the first five or six minutes of the game we didn't know what hit us as we looked up at the scoreboard and were down 14," said Darner, who is the two-time reigning NABC South Region Coach of the Year. "To advance in the Elite Eight, I think that first game, you have to be able to survive the first four or five minutes of the game. Hopefully, with our experience, we'll be able to do a better job of that this time around."

FSC, who has won a school record 22 straight games heading into the Elite Eight, are seeking its second national title in men's basketball and first since 1981. The 10 appearances in the Elite Eight are the most among the eight teams making the trip to Evansville this year.

Meanwhile, SNHU comes into the Elite Eight having won nine of its last 11 games overall, including winning three games in four days as the No. 2 seed last weekend at the East Regional. The Penmen, who are members of the Northeast-10 Conference, are sporting a 24-7 record and are making its seventh Elite Eight appearance and first in 20 years. 

"It's been a long time for us to be here in the Elite Eight," Southern New Hampshire 30-year head coach Stan Spirou said during Tuesday's press conference. "After 20 years, you realize how hard it is to get back and how hard it is to come back. We're glad to be back here in the Elite Eight and we know tomorrow will be a tough task for our team, but all eight teams here are very good."

The Mocs are making its 29th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season and have posted a 41-30 record in those appearances, including taking home the national title in 1981 and are making 10 trips to the Elite Eight and have earned six Final Four berths in school history. The 41 NCAA Tournament wins are third most in D-II history and third among current D-II schools.

FSC and Southern New Hampshire will be meeting for just the second time in school history on Wednesday and the first time since posting a 99-76 victory over then New Hampshire College in Lakeland on Jan. 22, 1973. In addition, the Mocs are 15-4 all-time against teams from the Northeast-10 Conference and are 2-1 all-time against this year's Elite Eight field as they are 1-1 against Bellarmine and 1-0 against Southern New Hampshire. The Mocs have never played faced Azusa Pacific, Indiana (Pa.), Minnesota State-Moorhead, Mount Olive or Tarleton State. 

The Mocs come into play Wednesday with one of the most potent offenses in all of Division II as they are averaging 88.9 points per game and have scored over 80 points in 31 of 34 games, including topping the century mark five times. 

Leading the way offensively for the Mocs is Capers, who is a two-time All-American. Capers, who has repeated as both the Sunshine State Conference and Daktronics South Region Player of the Year this season and has earned All-America status from Basketball Times, the NABC and Daktronics on the season, is averaging 21.1 points per game and is the No. 2 leading active scorer in Division II as he has tallied 2,250 points and has scored at least one point in every game he's played as a Moccasin (128) and has had 106 career double-digit efforts, including 32 this season.

"We have a really good balance on our team offensively, but we have one outstanding scorer in Kevin Capers. We kind of go how he goes and when he's on, we'll really good," said Darner, who is 215-72 in his ninth season at the helm of the Mocs. "But the good thing is that we have other guys that can score and we get a lot of contributions from our bench on the year."

In addition to Capers, who is a native of Winter Haven, Fla., three other Mocs come into the Elite Eight averaging in double figures. The first of those double-digit scorers is senior forward Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md.) is averaging 13.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and has reached double figures in 23 games and has scored in double figures in seven of nine games, while junior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) is averaging 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and has scored in double figures in eight of his last 10 games and 21 times overall, including tallying a career high 26 points in the South Regional Championship game against Lynn and Kelly, who is averaging 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game and has a career assist/turnover ratio of 2.08, which is 11th among active Division II players.

That potent Moccasin offense will be challenged by a Penmen squad that has held all three of its opponents in the NCAA Tournament under 60 points, including limiting University of Sciences to 53 points in SNHU's 59-53 East Regional semifinal game. On the season, SNHU is 13-0 when holding its opposition under 60 points this season and is 14-0 on the year when its opponents shoot under 40 percent from the field.

"We have a tremendous challenge tomorrow. Southern New Hampshire has held their last three opponents under 60 points," the Moccasin coach added. "Our thing is that we go on offense, so it will be a challenge to see how we can score against them, because I know when they get back in the halfcourt, they (SNHU) will guard us as well as anyone has this year."

The Mocs, on the other hand, come into the game shooting 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point and have scored 60 ore more points in 114 consecutive games since being held to 57 points against Saint Leo om Jan. 11, 2012.

"We need to be able to get the tempo into our favor and get them (SNHU) to turn to the ball over some, because they take very good care of the ball," Darner said. "We also need to make sure we're playing up-and-down and getting shots in transition, instead of setting up against their defense. We need to get out into transition because Southern New Hampshire is really good at guarding in the halfcourt."

The Mocs enter the game as one of the top teams in Division II at creating turnovers as they are forcing 18.6 turnovers per game and are second nationally in turnover margin (+7.0) and are averaging 9.0 steals per game.

SNHU, who were seeded No. 2 in the East Region, compliment their strong play on defense with an offense that is averaging 75.5 points per game and is outscoring its foes by 10.5 points per game. The Penmen are shooting 46 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from the 3-point line and are strong at the foul line as they are shooting 75 percent at line, which is 25th nationally. 

Darner says the one thing that impressed him about Southern New Hampshire was the way they run their offense.

"I'm impressed with how hard they cut and move on offense and how all five guys can pretty much play anywhere on the floor," the Moc coach said. "We haven't played a team on our schedule that moves as hard as they do or cuts as fast as they do in their offense."

Leading the way offensively for the Penmen, who have won 17 of its last 19 games heading into the Elite Eight, is junior guard Rodney Sanders, who averages 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and was named a First-Team All-Northeast 10 selection and a Second-Team Daktronics All-East Region honoree and has scored in double figures in 29 of 30 games. 

In addition to Sanders, senior forward Elijah Bonsignore is averaging 15.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and has blocked 211 shots, which is third-most in school history. Bonsignore, who was named a Second-Team All-Northeast 10 selection, is the 25th all-time scorer in SNHU history with 1,324 points. 

"In my 30 years of coaching, this is one of the most special groups of players I've ever coached," said Spriou, who is the eighth winningest active coach in terms of wins in Division II. "It's a special group that likes each other, values the basketball and shares the basketball. They love the way we want to play basketball as we want to guard, make the extra pass and control the tempo."

The winner of the FSC-SNHU national quarterfinal game will face the winner of Wednesday's fourth and final national quarterfinal that features No. 3 ranked Bellarmine against No. 5 ranked Minnesota State-Moorheard in the second of two national semifinals on Thursday, March 26 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network (Bright House Network Channel 139 in Lakeland). The national championship game is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m. Eastern and will be shown live on CBS (Bright House Channel 10 in Lakeland) and heard live on Westwood One Radio.