LAKELAND, Fla. -- Florida Southern used a strong effort on both ends of the court in the second half to rally from a 16-point first-half deficit en route to earning a 96-85 non-conference victory against Shaw at Jenkins Field House.
The 16-point deficit was the largest of the season for the fourth-ranked Moccasins, whose previous largest deficit of the season was 14 points against Warner. In addition, the Mocs also trailed at the half for just the second time this season as Shaw held a 47-39 lead at the half. The only other time FSC trailed at the half this season was against Warner as the Royals held a 37-36 lead in its game in Lakeland on Nov. 15.
"Shaw is a good team. They caused us some problems tonight, especially in the first half," Moccasin head coach Linc Darner said following his 167th victory as FSC's coach. "We didn't come with any emotion and didn't play hard in the first hard, but I thought we battled back and played well in the second half."
With the victory, the Mocs improve to 11-0 for the 10th time in school history and first time since the 2009-10 squad opened the season by winning its first 13 games. The win also extended the Mocs win streak against non-conference opponents to 17 consecutive games and pushed its homecourt win streak to 10 games.
Friday's victory was keyed by the play of junior guard Kevin Capers and senior guard Dominic Lane as those two players combined to score 33 of FSC's season-high tying 57 second-half points. Capers finished the game with his first career double-double as he scored 27 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists, including scoring 20 points and dishing out seven assists after halftime, while Lane finished with 21 points, including tallying 13 of them after halftime.
With his 21 points, Lane moves within 10 points of becoming the second Moccasin this season and 39th in program history to eclipse the 1,000 career-point plateau as he has scored 990 points in 98 career games. Earlier this season, Capers passed the 1,000-point mark in his career and he has now tallied 1,048 career points to stand 32nd on the school's all-time scoring list.
No. 6 Metro State 80, Black Hills State 68
SPEARFISH, S.D. -- No. 6 Metro State cruised to an 80-67 victory at Black Hills State on Friday night. The Roadrunners improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while BHSU fell to 4-4 and 2-3.
Mitch McCarron led the Roadrunners with 19 points, hitting 7-of-11 from the floor. Brandon Jefferson hit three 3-pointers and scored 13, while Nicholas Kay had 12 and a game-high seven rebounds and four steals. Jamal McClerkin and Raul Delgado each scored eight.
For the game, Metro State shot 50 percent from the floor, including 6 of 14 (.429) from the outside. MSU Denver committed just nine turnovers, while forcing 16. BHSU shot 52.9 percent.
The Roadrunners led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held a 42-32 advantage at halftime after forcing nine turnovers.
Metro State led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Tommy Earl led BHSU with 19 points.
