LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College men's basketball earned a bid to the 2021-22 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, presented by S3 Design, as the fourth seed and hosts the University of Tampa, the fifth seed in the tournament, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 1.
Location: Lakeland, Fla.
Arena: Streamline Sale Arena, George W. Jenkins Field House
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m.
Coverage: Live Stats –
www.fscmocs.com/stats; Video –
www.fscmocs.com/live
Florida Southern College was the only school in the Sunshine State Conference to earn hosting rights for both the women's and men's quarterfinal games. The women's team (2nd seed) will tip-off against Lynn (8th seed) at 5:30 p.m. before the men's matchup with Tampa.
"We know that Tampa is a very good team and presents a challenging matchup for us," Head Coach
Mike Donnelly commented. "We are really excited to play at home in front of our fans. Tampa has been a very good team this year, but we have won five straight games at home and have been playing with a lot of confidence. We just want our guys to continue to play loose and confident as well as playing as hard as possible at both ends of the floor."
4th Seed - The Moccasins – Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Florida Southern finished the regular season with a 15-13 overall record and a 12-8 SSC record to earn the fourth seed and hosting rights for the quarterfinals. The Moccasins strung together eight wins over the final 10 games to push into the top half of the leaderboard. Florida Southern closed the season with a 6-1 month in February and on a three-game win streak.
The Mocs average 82.0 points a game and allow just 0.3 more, 82.3 to their opponents.
E.J. Dambreville leads the team in scoring on the season with 15.1 points per game (ppg) and hauls in a team-best 9.6 rebounds a game, with 250 on the season.
Xavier Rhodes and
Jack Casale both join Dambreville in double-figure averages with 14.4 ppg and 13.7 ppg, respectively.
5th Seed - The Spartans – Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Tampa closed the regular season with a 74-67 win over Palm Beach Atlantic to move to 16-9 overall and 12-8 in SSC play. The Spartans were tied with the Mocs in the league standings, but due to a 0-2 record against Florida Southern, Tampa shifted to the fifth seed.
The Spartans average 79.1 points a game as a unit and defensively give up just the second lowest points in play at 76.5. Max Jones is the top Spartan in the scoring column and is second in the league in his 20 games played with 21.7 ppg. Jones wrapped up the regular season with a 24-point performance over the Sailfish last Saturday.
Three others join Jones in double-figure averages with Bryan Williams at 12.0 in 25 games played, Martin Lakovic at 10.3 in 24 games played and Derrick Felder at 10.0 in his 23 games.
FSC in the SSC Tournament
Florida Southern men's basketball enters the tournament with a 78-19 record overall with four straight quarterfinal wins. Last year, in the 2021 tournament, the fourth-seeded Moccasins defeated the fifth-seeded Rollins Tars 88-82 as Florida Southern eventually advanced to play in the SSC championship game.
This will be the 16
th meeting between Florida Southern and Tampa in the SSC tournament with the Mocs holding a 12-3 advantage, just the second quarterfinal matchup. In 1999, no. 1 seed Florida Southern defeated no. 8 seed Tampa 69-51 in the first quarterfinal meeting. The Moccasins have won 25 of the 44 SSC Men's Basketball Championships to date with back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.
The Matchup – FSC vs UT
Florida Southern completed the season sweep of Tampa with an 87-83 win over the Spartans back on Jan. 19 when Tampa was receiving votes in the NABC poll. The Mocs followed that up with an 83-80 victory at home on Feb. 9.
In the two game regular season series,
Jadin Booth was the top of the leaderboard with 12.5 ppg on 60-percent shooting from the floor including a 71.4-percent mark from downtown. Booth added a 72.7-percent performance at the free throw line going 8-for-11. Right behind him, in players that played in both games,
Xavier Rhodes averaged 12.0 ppg,
Jack Casale 11.5 and
E.J. Dambreville at 10.0.
Casale was the team leader in the series with 8.5 rebounds per game (rpg) ahead of Dambreville's 5.5.
Tampa's Bryan Williams paced the Spartans with 13.0 ppg in two games played, while Max Jones shined in one game of the series with 27 points. Martin Lakovic averaged a double-double in the pair of games with 12.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg.
Milestones Achieved
Jack Casale scored his 2,000
th career point in a 21-point performance against Eckerd inside Streamline Sale Arena. Casale, who spent four years at Saint Joseph's College of Maine. In his first season with the Mocs, the Portland, Maine native has 356 points this season.
E.J. Dambreville scored his 1,000
th career point in a 26-point performance in the overtime thriller against No. 24 Embry-Riddle last Wednesday, where he became just the 25
th player in a Moccasin jersey to reach the plateau. The Dorchester, Mass. native hit a tough pull-up jumper to push the Mocs ahead 82-81 with 19-seconds left in regulation.
Head Coach
Mike Donnelly achieved his 300
th career victory as a head coach, standing at 313-228 (.579) heading into Tuesday's matchup. The 1997 Sacred Heart graduate is in his 19
th year of coaching with seven years at Post (98-103), five years at Southern Connecticut State (97-49) and his seven years at Florida Southern College (118-76)
Other games around the league:
#1 NSU vs. #8 Florida Tech - 7:00 PM
#2 ERAU vs. #7 PBA - 7:00 PM
#3 Barry vs. #6 Rollins - 7:00 PM
Following Tuesday's quarterfinal round, the tournament semifinals will be held on Thursday, March 3rd, and the championship final will be played Sunday, March 6th. The SSC champion will receive automatic qualification to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships. NCAA regional competition will take place at a non-predetermined site beginning on Friday, March 11th. Elite Eight play will take place from Tuesday, March 22nd to Saturday, March 26th at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The NCAA will announce championship selections and seeding on Sunday, March 6th,
here.
