Mocs Aim To Top Tars in Home SSC Game

OPENING NUMBERS OF NOTE...
1,154 - # of career points scored by Dominique Williams. He is the 40th Moccasin to score 1,000 points and currently stands 20th on all-time scoring list.
204 - # of career coaching wins for Mike Donnelly entering Wednesday's game with Rollins.
166 - # of wins for the Mocs since beginning of the 2009-10 season, which is the second most among South Region schools.
89 - # of seasons of Moccasin men's basketball entering 2015-16.
50 - # of years for Jenkins Field House entering 2015-16 season.
31 - # of wins for the Mocs during the 2015 calendar year.
31-8 - FSC's record during the 2015 calendar year.
29 - # of NCAA Division II Tournament appearances all-time.
26-15 - FSC's record in SSC openers all-time in school history.
23 - Single game school record 3-pointers hit by the Mocs in its 128-84 win against Miles on Dec. 20, 2015.
8 - # of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the Mocs.4 - # of consecutive SSC Tournament titles for the Mocs.
2 - # of Division II basketball national titles won by FSC (1981 & 2015).
2 - # of triple-doubles in school history - Dylan Travis recorded the school's first triple-double against Miles (11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) while Jarel Spellman earned the second on Feb. 3 with 10 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, and a school record 12 blocked shots vs. Palm Beach Atlantic.

MOCCASIN QUICK NOTES
* - This is the 89th season of Moccasin basketball.
* - The Mocs played two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponents in exhibition play as they opened the exhibition slate with a 112-68 loss at reigning Division I National Champion Duke on Oct. 30 and then fell 96-54 to Syracuse on Nov. 8 to conclude exhibition play.  
* - It is the first time the Mocs opened the season with an exhibition game against an NCAA Division I foe since falling 110-88 to Florida to open the 2013-14 season. FSC also faced Tennessee during exhibition play in 2013-14. 
* - FSC opened the season with back-to-back losses at the SSC/GSC Challenge last weekend in Livingston, Ala., as the Mocs fell to West Alabama (90-78) and Delta State (77-63). The 0-2 start to the season is the first for the Mocs since the 1978-79 season. 
* - After losing its first two games this season, the Mocs reeled off four consecutive victories, including opening SSC play with wins at home over Barry and on the road against Lynn, before dropping four straight games at Saint Leo, at home against Florida Tech, at Stillman and at Palm Beach Atlantic. 
* - Since the win over Eastern New Mexico on Dec. 17, the Moc have won just four of its last 12 games with the only wins coming at home against both Miles (128-84) and Tampa (93-75), on the road at Nova Southeastern (84-79), and again at home vs. Palm Beach Atlantic (91-77).
* - With its wins over Barry and Lynn to open SSC play this season, it marked the third time in the last four seasons that the Mocs had opened SSC play by winning its first two games. 
* - FSC finished the 2014-15 season with a school record 36 wins and posted a 36-1 overall record and captured the school's second-ever national title in men's basketball and first since 1981. In addition, the Mocs also won its third consecutive Sunshine State Conference regular season title and took home its fourth straight SSC Tournament championship.
* - The Mocs were tabbed to finish third in the Preseason SSC Coaches' Poll and earned 36 votes in the Preseason NABC Division II Coaches' Poll. In addition, the Mocs were ranked 15th in Preseason D2SIDA National Media Poll. 
* - The Mocs came into the 2015-16 season having won a school record 25 consecutive games since suffering a 107-102 loss to Barry in its SSC opener on Jan. 2, 2015, before dropping its season opener against West Alabama. Since that loss to the Bucs, the Mocs closed last year's regular season by winning its final 16 games, before winning all nine of its games in the 2015 postseason.  
* - FSC returns four key reserves from last season's national championship squad, but must replace all five of its starters who were seniors a season ago.
* - The Mocs opened the 2014-15 season with an 11-0 record for the second consecutive season and 10th time in school history last season. In 2013-14, the Mocs opened the season by winning its first 18 games. 
* - Over the past eight seasons, FSC is the second winningest NCAA men's basketball program in the state of Florida as they have won 219 games. Only first year NCAA Division II member Embry-Riddle has won more games (224) over that same span than the Mocs.
* - FSC stands 17th all-time in wins in NCAA Division II with 1,384 wins and is one of 20 D-II programs to  record more than 1,350 all-time victories. In addition, FSC's .638 all-time winning percentage is 18th best in Division II.
* - The Mocs are seeking to win 20 or more games for the ninth consecutive season in 2015-16. FSC is one of just two Division II schools (West Liberty is the other) to post 20-win campaigns the past eight seasons.
* - FSC has won an SSC-best 22 regular season and 23 SSC Tournament titles and has made 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, which is third most in Division II.
* - The Mocs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament the past eight seasons and is one of just two Division II schools to play in the NCAA Tournament the past eight seasons, the other being Seattle Pacific, who earned its 11th consecutive tournament berth in 2014-15. 
* - The Mocs finished 2014-15 ranked No. 1 in the 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 in the final five polls of last season.
* - FSC earned 36 votes in this year's Preseason NABC Coaches' Poll and is third among the 40 schools earning votes in the Preseason poll. It marked just the seventh time since the NABC began a preseason poll in 1996 that the Mocs have not been preseason ranked and the second straight season that the defending Division II national champion wasn't preseason ranked. 

MOCCASINS TO LOOK TO GET ON TRACK WHEN HOSTING ROLLINS WEDNESDAY

The reigning NCAA Division II National Champion Florida Southern Moccasins (8-14 overall, 4-8 SSC) hosts Rollins at Jenkins Field House on Wednesday, Feb 10 at 7:30 p.m. The Moccasins are looking for their first conference victory since winning at Nova Southeastern, 84-79, on Jan. 16 and their first home SSC win since topping Tampa, 93-75, on Jan. 2. The Rollins game is the second half of a doubleheader at Jenkins Field House as the Moccasin women (18-4 overall and 8-4 in the SSC) also plays Rollins (9-11, 4-7 SSC) at 5:30 p.m.

FSC is playing its sixth home game in 2016 as the Mocs are 6-5 at home during the 2015-16 season. The Mocs have lost seven of their last nine games with the only victories being an 84-79 win at Nova Southeastern on ESPN3 on Jan. 16 and a 91-77 non-conference home win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Feb. 3. 

WILLIAMS CLIMBING UP ALL-TIME SCORING CHARTS

Senior guard Dominique Williams made history in the Mocs game on Jan. 9 against 12th-ranked Eckerd as he scored 17 points to become the 40th all-time member of Florida Southern's 1,000 Point Club. He entered the Eckerd game needing just one point to reach the 1,000 point plateau and he scored that one point he needed on a free throw just 72 seconds into the game.

In his three-plus seasons as a Moccasin, Williams has now scored 1,154 points, including scoring 426 points in 22 games this season and is currently sitting 20th on the school's all-time scoring chart. On the horizon for Williams are John Saunders (1993-96) in 19th place with 1,162 points; Drew Tucker (1976-80) in 18th place with 1,167 points; Innocent Kere (1998-00) in 17th place with 1,177 points; and Jimmie Baker (1996-99) in 16th place with 1,194 points.

Williams, who is the ninth Moccasin to score 1,000 points since the 2006-07 season, is averaging 9.9 points per game as he has shot 393-for-885 from the field (44.4 percent) and is 163-for-398 (41.0 percent) from the 3-point line in his Moccasin career. He has reached double figures in 46 career games, including the last 21 straight, with 20 or more points in a game 15 times in his career, including 11 games this season. 

SCOUTING THE MOCCASINS 

Florida Southern is coming off a 82-79 loss at Florida Tech on Saturday. The Moccasins played the game without their leading scorer, Dylan Travis, who has missed four of the last six games due to injuries. Travis, who is averaging 22.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, missed three games before returning for two games on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3 and sitting out the last contest. Dominique Williams has stepped up in Travis' absence, averaging 20.0 points over the last six games.

Jared Spellman notched the program's second-ever triple-double in his last home game, scoring all ten of his points in the second half, while pulling down a career-high 13 rebounds in the game and blocking a school record 12 shots. He grabbed another 10 rebounds in Saturday's game at Florida Tech and blocked four more shots to give him 21 blocks over his last three games. His efforts garnered him SSC Defensive Player of the Week honors this week. 

Sheldon Zablotney has added 13.7 points per game while adding 60 three-pointers in his first season with the Moccasins. He has scored in double figures in each of his last seven games, including a career-high 28 points at FIT on Saturday. Michael Volovic has poured in 51 points in his last three outings and has dished out four of more assists in eight of his last nine games.

Florida Southern has attempted the most three-pointers (718) of any team in the Sunshine State Conference and ony four teams in the NCAA Division II have shot more from the three-point line. The Moccasins are third in the NCAA in three-points made (273) and fourth in treys made per game (11.0). Both categories are tops in the SSC as is the Mocs' 109 blocks and 904 rebounds. The club is second in the league in scoring offense (86.3), assists ratio (1.24), assists per game (17.0) and blocks per game (4.7) as well as third with a 75.0 free-throw percentage and 26.52 defensive rebounds per game.

FSC-ROLLINS SERIES 

Florida Southern has played Rollins more than any other opponent in the program's history. The two squads first met during the 1925-26 season and there have been 172 games played in the rivalry. Florida Southern has emerged victorious in 119 games with the Tars taking the "W" in 53 games, including an 89-72 win in the the two teams' last meeting in Winter Park on Jan. 20. The Moccasins enjoy a 65-20 advantage in games played in Lakeland while the Tars have won 47 of the 79 games played in Winter Park. The two teams have met eight times on a neutral court with the Mocs winning each and Florida Southern is a perfect 14-0 against Rollins in Sunshine State Conference Tournament play. Florida Southern has won seven of the last nine meetings, including the last three match-ups in Jenkins Field House. In the two teams' last meeting, the Moccasins took a 37-33 lead at intermission, but a 33-18 run by the Tars in the opening 11 minutes of the second half allowed Rollins to emerge with the win.

SCOUTING ROLLINS

Rollins College brings a 16-6 overall record into Jenkins Field House after winning its last five games in a row. The Tars opened the 2015-16 season with nine straight wins before losing four in a row and six of the next eight games. Rollins is in third place in the SSC with an 8-3 record, but sit just one-half game back of Eckerd and one full game behind Barry which leads the league with a 9-2 mark. In their last game, the Tars beat Nova Southeastern, 78-75, behind 23 points by Jeff Merton.

Rollins is coached by Tom Klusman who is in his 36th season as the helm of the Tars. Klusman is two wins shy of reaching his 650th career victory and brings a 648-379 record into Wednesday's game. He is just one of 16 Division II coaches all-time to eclipse 600 wins. Klusman has led Rollins to six regular season SSC championships and three tournament titles. The Tars have made seven NCAA postseason appearances under Klusman and advanced to the Division II Elite Eight in 2003-04. A former player for Rollins, Klusman scored 1,006 points and dished out 353 assists in helping Rollins reach the NCAA postseason twice.

Merton leads Rollins with a 15.2 scoring average and is also tops with 5.0 rebounds per game, He has made 48.5 of his field goals, including a 42.6 three-point mark. Sharif Almulla pumps in 12.0 points per game and shoots 86.4 from the free throw line while Sam Philpott scores 11.5 points per game. Also in double figures is Deion Clark who scores 10.2 points per outing. James Ferrell leads the Tars with 109 assists, which is third best in the SSC. 

Rollins leads the Sunshine State Conference with a 49.1 team field goal percentage and a 79.4 free-throw mark (fifth in the NCAA Division II) as well as 210 steals. The Tars have also held their opponents to just 42.4 field goal shooting, the best mark in the league.