MOCCASINS RUN PAST PUERTO RICO-RIO PIEDRAS IN HOME
OPENER
Nov. 18, 2008 - Led by big game from Rashaad
Singleton, Florida Southern rolled to a 109-86 win
over Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras in its home opener
Tuesday night, as the 4th-ranked Moccasins improved
to 4-1 on the season.
The Gallitos (0-2) had no answer for Singleton, a
7-0 transfer from the University of Georgia, who
dominated the paint the entire night. Singleton
scored 21 points while making all nine of his field
goal attempts, grabbed nine rebounds, and blocked
four shots. He did most of his damage in the first
half as the Mocs led 54-40 lead at the break.
Singleton certainly wasn't the only standout for the
Moccasins. Rion Rayfield scored 17 points, handed
out five assists and had six rebounds. The sophomore
guard was six-for-10 from the field and
four-of-seven behind the arc. Braxton Williams
scored 13 points, Rob Eldridge had 12, and Zach
Smith added 10 points, six assists and three steals.
John Thompson chipped in with eight points and a
game-high 14 rebounds off the bench.
UPR-Rio Piedras kept the game close for most of the
first half before being out-scored 8-1 in the final
2:44 of the period. That trend continued after the
break too, as the Moccasins opened the second half
with a 17-2 run, sparked by eight points from Smith.
The Mocs would push their lead to 30 at one point,
and the Gallitos never came close again.
Florida Southern shot 54 percent from the floor, hit
nine 3-pointers, out-rebounded Rio Piedras by a
58-29 margin, and forced 20 turnovers.
FSC travels to Valdosta, Ga., to take on the 3-0
Blazers Saturday at 7 :30 p.m.
The Moccasins' next home game will be Tuesday, November
25, when they host the University of Puerto
Rico-Bayamon at 7:30 p.m.
MOCS' COLD-SHOOTING ALLOWS 'CANES TO WIN BIG
Nov. 15, 2008 - The Moccasins knew they would have
to play well to have a chance against the
nationally-ranked Miami Hurricanes Saturday, but
they suffered a cold shooting night from the field
and that allowed the Hurricanes to post a 96-60
victory at the BankUnited Center. FSC did have
a lead briefly, at 5-2, but Miami took the lead at
6-5 with 16:33 left in the first half and led the
rest of the game. A 19-5 run pushed Miami's
lead from 14-10 to 33-15 and the 'Canes led 43-25 at
halftime. The Moccasins shot just 25% from the
field in the first half (9-25) and finished the game
shooting 28.4% (19-67). They were 6-22 (27.3%)
from three-point range.
John Thompson came off the bench to lead the
Moccasin scoring with 10 points. He was the
only Moccasin in double figures. Dwayne
Collins and Jack McClinton each had 18 points to
lead the Hurricanes. Miami out-rebounded FSC
56-37. Rashaad Singleton and Zach Smith each
had seven rebounds to lead the Moccasins and
Singleton added three more blocked shots to his
total, giving him 20 in four games.
The Moccasins (3-1) play their home opener Tuesday
night at 7:30 in Jenkins Field House against Puerto
Rico-Rio Piedras. The game will be broadcast
on the internet on SportsLine Radio Network with Jim
Henderson calling the play-by-play. Air time
will be 7:15 p.m. To listen, click on the SLRN
link.
SECOND-HALF RALLY GETS MOCS TO 3-0
Nov. 9, 2008 - The Moccasins needed a second-half
rally to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit and
register a 77-69 win over Minnesota-Duluth to win
the Disney Classic Sunday night at Lake Buena Vista.
FSC shot just 33% in the first half and trailed
40-29 at intermission, but the shooting improved to
61% in the second half and the defense held the
Bulldogs to just 29 second-half points and the
Moccasins posted their third straight win to start
the season.
Rob Eldridge, who was named the Disney Classic MVP,
led the Moccasins with 19 points and Rion Rayfield
added 18. Rashaad Singleton joined Eldridge on
the All-Classic team, as he set a record for the
Classic with 17 blocks in the three games.
Against the Bulldogs, he had five blocks to go with
nine points and seven rebounds.
The Moccasins return to action Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
when they take on the Miami Hurricanes in the
Hurricanes' season opener.
THOMPSON'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE HELPS MOCS DOWN MONTEVALLO
Nov. 8, 2008 - With the help of a double-double from
newcomer John Thompson, the Moccasins won their
second straight game at the Disney Classic at Lake
Buena Vista, downing Montevallo 73-58 Saturday night to improve to
2-0.
Thompson, a transfer from Queens (N.C.) where he was
a starter last season, scored 13 points and grabbed
a team-high 14 rebounds. Rob Eldridge led the
Mocs' scoring with 18 points. Brandon Jenkins
also was in double figures with 10 points.
Rashaad Singleton added a unique "triple eight",
with eight points, eight
rebounds and eight blocks. The eight blocks
tied the FSC single-game record set by Christophe
Humbert against Rochester (Mich.) on Jan. 2, 2002.
Singleton has recorded 12 blocks in the first two
games, leaving him one away from the Disney Classic
Record.
The Moccasins took the lead for good on a dunk by
Singleton with 6:53 left in the first half that
broke a 17-17 tie. FSC led 33-25 at halftime
and Montevallo never got any closer in the second
half.
FSC meets Minnesota-Duluth Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in
the final game of the Disney Classic.
MOCS CRUISE PAST LEES-McRAE IN SEASON OPENER
Nov. 7, 2008 - Leading from start to finish, the
Moccasins cruised past Lees-McRae 99-75 to win their
season opener at the Disney Classic at Lake Buena
Vista Friday night.
Zach Smith scored FSC's first basket of the season
on a layup just 17 seconds into the game and, after
a missed Lees-McRae shot, Rob Eldridge hit a
three-pointer 20 seconds later and the Moccasins
were on their way to win number one.
They led 47-30 at halftime and Lees-McRae never got
closer than 15 in the second half. The Mocs
had their biggest lead of 27 points with 21 seconds
left when John Miller connected on a three-pointer.
Five players scored in double figures for FSC, led
by Eldridge's 16. He also had seven rebounds
and four assists. Braxton Williams, who had
missed the two exhibition games due to an injury,
played 11 minutes and scored 13 points, hitting
three three-pointers. Newcomer John Thompson,
who also missed the two exhibition games with an
injury, added 12 points and six rebounds in 15
minutes off the bench. Brandon Jenkins also
scored 12, while Rashaad Singleton tallied 11 points
to go with six rebounds and four blocks. Smith
led the Moc in rebounds with 12 and scored eight
points, as did Rion Rayfield and Preston Fredrick.
The Moccasins shot 51.3% from the field (40-78) and
hit 10 three-pointers (10-21), while outrebounding
Lees-McRae 53-38. The Bobcats connected on 14
three-pointers, but shot just 38.7% for the game.
Saturday the Moccasins play Montevallo at 7:30 p.m.
in their second game of the Disney Classic.
Montevallo lost to Minnesota-Duluth 77-75 Friday.
FSC's final game of the Disney Classic will be
against Minnesota-Duluth Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
ILLINOIS DOWNS MOCS 82-61
Nov. 2, 2008 - After a quick start by the Moccasins
that had them ahead 8-3 in the first five minutes,
Illinois finished the first half with a 51-20 run and went on to win Sunday's exhibition game
82-61 at Champaign, Ill.
The Moccasins outscored the Illini 33-28 in the
second half, but were unable to get closer than 17
points.
Freshman Preston Fredrick led four Moccasins in
double figures with 13 points in 21 minutes off the
bench. He was seven of 10 from the free throw
line and also grabbed six rebounds. Rion
Rayfield and Rob Eldridge each had 12 points and
Brandon Jenkins added 10 points, plus a team-high
seven rebounds and five assists. Trent Meacham led
Illinois with 17 points.
The Moccasins officially begin the 2008-09 season
next Friday night at 7:30, when they meet Lees-McRae
at the Disney Tip-Off Classic in Lake Buena Vista.
That will be the first of three games in three
nights at the Disney event. FSC will play
Montevallo Saturday night at 7:30 and
Minnesota-Duluth Sunday night at 7:30.
PURDUE TOO MUCH FOR MOCS
Oct. 31, 2008 - The Purdue Boilermakers showed why
they are favored to win the Big Ten championship
this season, as they downed the Moccasins 94-62 in
Friday night's exhibition game at Mackey Arena in
front of 13,594 fans. Purdue limited the
Moccasins to just 28.6% shooting from the field and
forced 27 turnovers in the game. FSC did
out-rebound Purdue 48-42.
The Boilermakers ran off eight straight points to
start the game before the Moccasins trimmed the
margin to 13-8. Purdue led 43-25 at halftime
and FSC could not get closer than 17 points the rest
of the game.
Rob Eldridge led the Moccasins with 18 points and
Rion Rayfield added 16. Freshman Preston
Fredrick played 28 minutes off the bench and grabbed
a team-high nine rebounds and scored eight points.
Rashaad Singleton, FSC's 7-0 transfer from Georgia,
was hampered by foul problems. He played just
15 minutes and had two points and five rebounds.
Purdue had five players score in double figures, led
by E'Twaun Moore with 14.
MEN’S BASKETBALL TO BE ON
SPORTSLINE RADIO NETWORK
Oct. 28, 2008 - Florida Southern College and
SportsLine Radio Network are teaming up to provide
internet broadcasts of Moccasin men’s basketball for
the 2008-09 season. All FSC home games, all
Sunshine State Conference road games and all
postseason games will be broadcast. Veteran
broadcaster Jim Henderson will provide the
play-by-play.
“With the excitement and enthusiasm generated last
season and with the high expectations of this season
for men’s basketball, we felt this was a great
opportunity to provide an additional outlet for our
fans anywhere in the world to follow the Moccasins,”
said FSC Athletics Director Pete Meyer.
SLRN general manager Val Reugger said, “We at
SportsLine Radio Network are extremely happy to be
broadcasting Florida Southern’s basketball games
this season. One reason we like Florida Southern is
because of the great support it has in the
community. The Moccasins have a great tradition in
sports and we would like to be part of that. We are
looking forward to a great season.”
The first internet broadcast will be the Moccasins’
home opener Nov. 18 against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras.
SportsLine Radio Network is a 24-hour all sports web
site located at
www.SLRNsportsnews.com.
It covers college, high school and professional
sports. In addition to a wide variety of live game
coverage, SLRN also carries Sports Byline, which is
rated America’s #1 Sports Talk Network.
The complete Florida Southern men’s basketball
broadcast schedule on SLRN:
Nov. 18 vs. Puerto Rico-Rio
Nov. 25 vs. Puerto
Rico-Bayamon
Dec. 6 at
Rollins*
Dec. 15 vs. Florida
Memorial
Dec. 29 vs. East Stroudsburg
(Pa.)
Dec. 30 vs. S.
Carolina-Aiken
Jan. 3 vs. Florida
Tech*
Jan. 7 at Saint
Leo*
Jan. 10 at
Barry*
Jan. 14 vs. Eckerd*
Jan. 17 vs. Palm Beach
Atlantic
Jan. 21 vs.
Tampa*
Jan. 24 at
Lynn*
Jan. 28 at Nova
Southeastern*
Jan. 31 vs. Rollins*
Feb. 4 at Florida
Tech*
Feb. 7 vs.
Barry*
Feb. 11 vs. Saint
Leo*
Feb. 18 at
Eckerd*
Feb. 21 vs.
Lynn*
Feb. 25 at
Tampa*
Feb. 28 vs. Nova
Southeastern*
Mar. 4 SSC Tournament (1st round)
Mar. 7-8 SSC Tournament (semifinals &
finals)
*Sunshine State Conference Game
Game time approx. 7:30 p.m. except for Jan. 10 game
at Barry (approx. 4 p.m.)
Pre-game show approximately 15 min. prior to game
time.
MOCS PICKED TO REPEAT IN SSC
Oct. 23, 2008 -
With the Moccasins returning four starters from last
season's 24-9 Sunshine State Conference championship
team and with the preseason national attention coach
Linc Darner's squad already has received, it was
hardly a surprise that FSC is a virtual unanimous
pick to repeat as Sunshine State Conference
champion.
In the preseason
poll of the league's men's head basketball coaches
and sports information directors, the Moccasins received 16 of
18 first-place votes, but voters were not allowed to
vote for their own team, so the Moccasins received
the maximum number of first-place votes they could
receive and had a total of 128 points.
Rollins compiled
100 votes and one first-place vote to finish second
in the balloting. Eckerd was third with 90
points. Nova Southeastern received the other
first-place vote and had 73 points to edge Lynn for
fourth. Lynn was just one point behind in
fifth place. The remaining four teams and
their point totals had Tampa sixth with 57, Florida
Tech seventh with 56, Saint Leo eighth with 54 and
Barry ninth with 18.
The Moccasins get
an early start to the season with exhibition games
at Division I schools Purdue (Oct. 31) and Illinois
(Nov. 2) before officially opening the 2008-09
campaign at the Disney Tip-Off Classic Nov. 7-8-9.
TWO MORE POLLS HAVE MOCS IN
TOP TEN
Two more preseason
NCAA Division II basketball polls have been
released, both of which have the Moccasins ranked in
the top ten. Division II Bulletin has
the Moccasins ranked second behind Findlay (Ohio).
Findlay was 28-5 last season, returns all five
starters and has Division II Bulletin's
Preseason Player of the Year in senior forward Josh
Bostic. The Moccasins return four starters
from last season's 24-9 team. Street &
Smith's preseason poll is identical to The
Sporting News poll released last week, which had
the Moccasins ranked ninth.
MOCS CRACK PRESEASON TOP TEN
It’s been a while, but the
Moccasins definitely are back in the
national spotlight. The Sporting News NCAA
Division II Preview has the Moccasins ranked ninth
in the nation. With four starters back from last
season’s 24-9 SSC championship season, coach Linc
Darner’s squad is the only Sunshine State
Conference team listed in the top 10. South
Carolina-Aiken, which has followed a path similar to
the Moccasins’ path the past two seasons, is ranked
No. 1 in the preseason poll. USC-Aiken was 9-22 two
years ago and 27-4 last season (FSC went from 8-20
to 24-9). FSC and USC-Aiken will meet in the
Moccasins’ Holiday Inn South/Ledger Classic
Dec. 30 at Jenkins Field House. Ranked behind
USC-Aiken in the preseason poll are Findlay (Ohio),
Gannon (Pa.), Bentley (Mass.), Augusta State (Ga.),
Southwest Baptist (Mo.), Central Washington and
Grand Valley State, with C.W. Post (N.Y.) ranked 10th
behind FSC. The Mocs’ Rob Eldridge, last year’s
team scoring leader scorer (14.8), is a preseason
honorable mention All-America selection. No other
Sunshine State Conference player is listed.
MOCS
TO GET EARLY START TO 08-09 CAMPAIGN
Looking to build on
the success of last season’s Sunshine State
Conference championship campaign, coach Linc
Darner’s Florida Southern Moccasins will get an
early start on the 2008-09 men’s basketball season.
Coming off their 24-9 season that produced the
SSC regular season and tournament titles, the
Moccasins will travel to the Midwest for a pair of
preseason exhibition games against Big Ten schools
Purdue and Illinois before returning to Florida to
open the season in the Disney Division II Tip-Off
Classic at Lake Buena Vista. The Moccasins play at Purdue, Darner’s alma mater, on
Friday, Oct. 31 and at Illinois on Sunday, Nov. 2.
Purdue was 25-9 last season and returns all
five starters from a year ago.
The Boilermakers are ranked in the top ten of
several Division I preseason polls.
Illinois was 16-19 last season.
“We’re excited
about getting to play two outstanding Division I
programs like Purdue and Illinois,” Darner said.
“It’s a great opportunity for our guys from
the Midwest to play in front of family members and
friends, plus it will help get us prepared for the
regular season.”
Returning Moccasin
players Rob Eldridge, Cameron Wooten, Brandon Jenkins
and Terry Jenkins all are from Indiana and Rion
Rayfield is from Wisconsin.
Following the two
Division I exhibition contests, the Moccasins will
participate in the Disney Tip-Off Classic Nov. 7-9 at
Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
FSC will play the feature game at 7:30 p.m.
each night. They’ll
meet Lees-McRae on Nov. 7, Montevallo on Nov. 8 and
Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 9.
For more information about the Tip-Off Classic,
click on the Disney link on the left.
“The Disney event
is close enough for our local and area fans to come
and watch us play against three pretty good Division
II schools, so I hope we’ll have good fan support at
those games,” Darner said.
Following
a Nov. 15 road game against the Miami Hurricanes, the
Moccasins’ first home game of the 2008-09 season
will be Nov. 18 against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras.
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