Moccasin SSC Tournament Notes vs. Eckerd
SSC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
SSC Tournament Central
SSC Men's Basketball Tournament Record Book
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 currently ranked No. 1 in this week's 14th regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. The Mocs have been ranked in the Top 10 for 28 of the past 30 regular season polls, including being ranked No. 1 the past four 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 201 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 1,365 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 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 208 all-time victories.
TOP-RANKED MOCS BEGIN QUEST FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT SSC TOURNAMENT FRIDAY AGAINST ECKERD
Top-ranked and regular season SSC Champion Florida Southern (27-1 overall, 15-1 SSC) begins its quest for its fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship on Friday, March 6 in the first of four quarterfinal games of the 2015 SSC Tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena (5,500) in Kissimmee against No. 8 seed Eckerd (12-15 overall, 4-12 SSC). Tip-off for Friday's quarterfinal game is slated fror 12 p.m.
The Moccasins, who ended the regular season by winning 16 consecutive games since suffering its first and only loss at home on Jan. 3 to then 11th-ranked Barry, 107-102, enters this year's SSC Tournament as the SSC regular season champion and earned the No. 1 seed in this season's tournament. With its regular season title this year, the Mocs have now won 22 regular season SSC titles and earned its third consecutive regular season title and second outright after winning a league record 15 games.
FSC enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in Division II as they have won 16 straight games, which is currently tied with Mount Olive for the longest active win streak in D-II men's basketball. The Mocs latest win in this streak came last Saturday at Rollins as FSC concluded the regular season with an 82-67 victory over the Tars to seal its third straight and 22nd all-time SSC regular season title.
FSC, who is once again ranked No. 1 in this week's 14th regular season NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, enters the postseason looking to claim its fourth straight and SSC best 23rd all-time tournament title this weekend and its sixth title in the last eight seasons.
FSC enters the SSC Tournament sporting a 27-1 overall record and they finished SSC play with a 15-1 record. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 seasons, the Mocs have posted an 80-12 record, inclduing going 39-9 in SSC games. 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, 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 CLINCH 22ND ALL-TIME SSC REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Thanks to posting wins in the final week of the regular season last week 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.
16 GAME WIN STREAK IS TIED FOR LONGEST ACTIVE STREAK IN DIVISION II
FSC comes into the SSC Tournament having having won 16 consecutive games, which is currently tied with Mount Olive (27-2) for the longest active winning streak in Division II men's basketball. University of Sciences (Pa.) (24-4) has the second longest active win streak at 14 games, while Bellarmine (25-2) and Tarleton State (26-2) are tied for third as they have 13 straight games.
MOCS HAVE WON EIGHT STRAIGHT SSC TOURNAMENT GAMES
The Mocs come into this season's SSC Tournament having won eight straight SSC Tournament games since falling to Eckerd (70-69) in the semifinals of the 2011 Tournament at Florida Tech. The Mocs went 3-0 in the SSC Tournament in both 2012 and 2013 and was 2-0 in last year's tournament en route to taking home the last three SSC Tournament championships.
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 IN THE SSC TOURNAMENT
When the Mocs hit the court on Friday in Kissimmee, FSC will be playing its 81st all-time game in the SSC Tournament. The Mocs have compiled a 65-15 record in the SSC Tournament and is making its SSC-best 38th all-time appearance in the tournament. The 65 tournament wins are 32 more than any other school has won in the tournamentas Tampa is second with 33 all-time tournament wins after posting a 2-1 record last season and losing in the championship game to the Mocs, 84-74.
In addition, the Mocs have also won an SSC-best 22 tournament titles and have had four runner-up finishes. In fact, only four league schools have won multiple tournament titles as Tampa has won five titles, while Rollins has won four title and Eckerd has taken home three tournament titles. FSC has won five of the past seven SSC Tournament championships.
FSC IN POSTSEASON PLAY
The Mocs have played 148 all-time postseason games as FSC has compiled a 103-45 record in postseason play, including being 65-15 in the SSC Tournament and is 38-30 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Mocs have made seven straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and is poised to earn its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
CAPERS NAMED DIVISION II BULLETIN PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY
Senior All-American guard Kevin Capers has been named the Division II Bulletin Player of the Month for February. Capers, who is in his fourth and final season as a Moccasin in 2014-15, earns the February Player of the Month honor from the Division II Bulletin after averaging 19.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game in six games during the month for the top-ranked Moccasins.
He started the month of February by scoring 24 points in the Mocs 88-79 win at then third-ranked Barry on Feb. 4 and added eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win over the Buccaneers. Following the Barry game, Capers scored 27 points in the Mocs 82-58 home win on Feb. 7 over Nova Southeastern. In that game, Capers scored the 2,000th point of his career and is one of just two Moccasin men's basketball players to ever eclipse the 2,000 point barrier. He also scored 20 points in the Mocs win at Eckerd on Feb. 18.
He was named the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 9 following his two performances against both Barry and Nova Southeastern. It was the second time this season that Capers was named the SSC Player of the Week as he also earned the honor on Dec. 2, 2014. For the month, Capers scored in double figures in all six games and has now reached double figures in 24 of 26 games on the season, including entering the final week of the regular season having scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games.
FSC-ECKERD SERIES
Friday's game with Eckerd will mark the 102nd all-time meeting between the two schools as FSC holds a 68-33 all-time edge in the series, including sweeping the season series for the second consecutive season. The Moc have won six straight games in the series since Eckerd picked up an 85-75 victory in St. Petersburg on Feb. 20, 2013. FSC won all three meetings last season, including picking up an 82-76 win in the semifinals of the 2014 SSC Tournament over the Tritons and has won the team's first two meeting this year.
The Mocs lead the series, 32-11 in Lakeland and they have won eight straight games in the series in Lakeland, while the Mocs also hold a 25-18 lead at Eckerd and lead 9-4 on neutral courts. Darner is 14-7 all-time against Eckerd as FSC's coach and is 2-1 against Eckerd in the SSC Tournament.
ECKERD IN THE SSC TOURNAMENT
Eckerd is making its 33rd all-time appearance in the SSC Tournament as the Tritons have posted 31-29 record all-time in the tournament and have won three titles and had three runner-up finishes. Eckerd's most recent title came in 2007 when they defeated Rollins 67-52 in the title game, while its most recent runner-up finish came in 2011 when the Tritons fell 75-66 to Rollins in the championship game at Florida Tech.
Last season, Eckerd advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to FSC (82-76). In fact, Eckerd's has lost to the Mocs in the semifinals of the SSC Tournament the past two seasons. Over the past four seasons, Eckerd has posted a 6-4 record in the tournament and advaced to the semifinals in all four of those seasons.
SCOUTING ECKERD
Eckerd (12-15 overall, 4-12 SSC) comes into Friday's SSC quarterfinal match-up with FSC having dropped six of its last seven games to conclude the regular season with its only win being a 90-86 overtime win last Saturday at home against Palm Beach Atlantic. In fact, since suffering a 111-108 double overtime loss to Barry at home on Jan. 24, the Tritons have posted a 3-6 with its wins coming against Palm Beach Atlantic (twice) and Florida Tech.
Eckerd has struggled away from home this season as they have posted a 5-8 record away from home, including going 1-7 in SSC road games. Eckerd comes into the postseason having lost four straight games on the road since picking up a 59-48 win at Palm Beach Atlantic on Jan. 28. The Tritons opened this season at FSC's SSC/GSC Challenge event as they opened the 2014-15 season with an 89-77 loss to Delta State and an 82-78 win over West Alabama. At the same event, FSC defeated West Alabama, 93-76 and Delta State, 97-80.
Eckerd, who was tabbed to finish tied for seventh in the Preseason SSC Coaches' Poll, finished eighth in the SSC standings and earned the No. 8 seed in this SSC Tournament. The Tritons enteres this season with four returning starters and 12 lettermen from last season's 17-14 squad that fell 82-76 to the Mocs in the semifinals of the 2014 SSC Tournament in Kissimmee. The Tritons have suffered just first losing season since the 2008-09 Eckerd squad posted a 13-14 overall record and went 5-11 in the SSC.
The Tritons are coached by Tom Ryan (Eckerd, '87), who is in his 19th season at the helm of his alma mater. Ryan, who is the third-longest tenured active coach in the SSC, has posted a 356-201 record with the Tritons. In his time at Eckerd, Ryan, who serves as an associate athletic director at his alma mater, has led the Tritons to eight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including earning a spot in the 2002-03 Elite Eight.
Ryan's 19th Triton team features a balanced team that has seven players averaging over seven points per game, including one player averaging in double figures. Leading the way for the Tritons is junior guard/forward Jerrick Stevenson. Stevenson, who is a graduate of Lakeland's George Jenkins High School, is averaging 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field, 32 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in 19 games, including six times in his last seven times.
In addition to Stevenson, junior guard E.J. Moody is the other double digit scorer for the Tritons as he is averaging 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game and is shooting 47 percent from the field, 39 percent from the 3-point line and 91.7 percent at the free throw line. Moody, who graduated from Lakeland High School, has scored in double figures in nine games, but has missed four of the last six games due to injury.
Other key performers for the Tritons are senior forward Malcolm Brunner, Jr., sophomore guard Kevin Walsh, junior forward Ray Darnell and redshirt freshman forward Trevon Young. Brunner, Jr., is averaging 8.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and leads the team in blocked shots with 38 (1.5 blocks per game) and is shooting 48 percent from the field and has scored in double figures in 13 games, while Walsh, who is a transfer from Harper (Ill.) Community College is averaging 8.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 38 percent from the 3-point line, which is 14th in the latest SSC statisticcs and is averaging 1.8 made treys per game and has had 10 double-digit scoring efforts. Darnell is averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 57 percent from the field, which is eighth-best in the latest SSC statistics and has reached double figures in eight games and Young, who is a transfer from the University of Florida, is averaging 7.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and is fourth in the SSC in field goal percentage (62.8 percent) and has reached double figures in six games and posted a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds in the double overtime loss against Barry.
As a team, the Tritons are averaging 70.4 points per game and are shooting 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from the 3-point line and are last in the league in free throw shooting at 63.3 percent. Eckerd is fifth in the league in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage and is sixth in the league in rebound margin (+2.0). The Tritons have scored 80 or more points in five games, but have been held under 65 points in eight of its last 10 games since scoring a season high 108 points in the double overtime loss to Barry. On defense, Eckerd is allowing 71.6 points per game and its foes are shooting 44 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line and is fifth in the SSC in blocked shots (3.3 per game) and is averaging 6.3 steals per game.
