WEB SITE ISSUES ... You probably have had difficulty reaching the athletics web site over the past few days. We apologize for the inconvenience. The company that manages our web site is working to correct the technical problem that has made the web site unavailable and is trying to restore normal access as soon as possible.
HAWLEY SCORES 38 AS LADY MOCS WIN IN OT AT NOVA ... A career scoring night for Michaela Hawley highlighted a sensational comeback, as the Lady Mocs overcame a 13-point deficit in the final 12:23 to down Nova Southeastern 99-93 in overtime Wednesday night at Ft. Lauderdale. Hawley, a sophomore from Naples, played the entire 45 minutes and scored a career-high 38 points. She also grabbed 13 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season and the seventh of her career. Hawley’s 38 points matched the 38 points scored earlier this season by Chelsea Johnson against Georgia Southwestern. FSC’s single-game scoring record is 43 by Kim Disbro against Rollins in 1987. Hawley’s basket with 18 seconds left in regulation tied the game and forced the overtime. The Moccasins scored the first five points in overtime and never trailed in the extra session. Johnson scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half, including FSC’s final four points, all from the free throw line after Nova had cut the Moccasin lead to two points. She moved into seventh place on the FSC career scoring list with 1,414 points. Megan Dzikas scored all 10 of her points in the second half and Nicolle DiRaimo tossed in nine of her 11 points in the second half. The Moccasins (16-3, 6-2 SSC) start the second half of the conference season Saturday night at 5:30 at Jenkins Field House against Barry (13-5, 5-3 SSC), which has the SSC’s top scorer and rebounder in Mariesa Greene, who averages 20.9 points and 11.4 rebounds. The Moccasins won the first meeting this season 68-60 Dec. 5 at Barry. Wednesday night the Moccasins are on the road at Florida Tech for a 5:30 SSC game. Both games will be broadcast live on the internet on SportsLine Radio Network (SLRN).
MOCS HOLD OFF NOVA RALLY TO WIN ON THE ROAD ... With five players scoring in double figures, the 13th-ranked Moccasins built a big lead then held off a Nova Southeastern rally to down the Sharks 82-75 Wednesday night at Ft. Lauderdale. FSC was up by 13 points with just over five minutes gone in the game and led by 15 at halftime, 47-32. The Moccasins extended the lead to 19, 57-38, with 15:53 remaining before the Sharks started their rally. Nova went on a 25-8 run and with 10:54 left the Moccasin lead was down to two at 65-63. The Moccasins took the advantage back up to eight before Nova made its final run and again got as close as two points, 73-71 with 4:17 remaining, but the Sharks never got any closer and the Moccasins secured their fourth straight win. Rion Rayfield’s 15 points led the Moccasin scoring. John Thompson and A.J. Hawkins each scored 14 points, while Damon Ellison and Cameron Wooten contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench. The Moccasins (17-2, 6-2 SSC) start the second half of the conference season Saturday night at 7:30 at Jenkins Field House against Barry (13-5, 5-3 SSC), which is coached by former Moccasin Cesar Odio. The first meeting this season on Dec. 5 went to the Moccasins 83-77 at Barry. Wednesday night the Moccasins travel to Florida Tech for a 7:30 SSC contest. Both games will be broadcast live on the internet on SportsLine Radio Network (SLRN).
WOMEN FIFTH, MEN SIXTH IN FIRST REGION RANKINGS ... In the first NCAA South Region basketball rankings announced Wednesday, the Lady Mocs are ranked fifth and the Moccasin men are ranked sixth. Arkansas Tech is ranked number one in both polls, as both of its teams are undefeated. The top eight teams in the region will be selected for the NCAA South Regional in March, with the top-ranked team likely to be the host. Tampa is ranked fourth in the women’s poll, with Rollins ninth and Barry 10th. In the men’s poll, Rollins is ranked fourth and Barry is ranked eighth.
MOCS’ BASKETBALL GAMES ON THE INTERNET ... For the second straight year, Florida Southern College and SportsLine Radio Network are teaming up to provide internet broadcasts of Moccasin basketball for the 2009-10 season. All of FSC's Sunshine State Conference games, home and away, as well as all postseason games will be broadcast. Veteran broadcaster Jim Henderson provides the play-by-play. This season the FSC women's SSC games, home and away, are included. To listen to the broadcasts, click on the SLRN Broadcast link in the left hand column on the respective men's and women's basketball web sites. SLRN is a 24-hour all-sports web site located at www.slrnradiosports.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 as American's #1 Sports Talk Network. The next SLRN broadcasts will be the Jan. 30 games against Barry.
FSC BASKETBALL ALL-AMERICANS TO RETURN FEB. 6 ... Florida Southern will honor several of the best players ever to wear a Moccasin basketball uniform on Saturday, Feb. 6, when the Moccasins take on Rollins at Jenkins Field House. Among the former Moccasin All-Americans (and the years they were so honored) who have indicated they plan to attend are Don Tobin (1956-67), Simon Harper (1971-72), John Edwards (1975-76), Marshall Lester (1977-78), John Ebeling (1980, 81, 82), John McNulty (1985-86), Jerry Johnson (1987-88), Donolly Tyrell (1989-90), Andy Robertson (1996-97) and Chris Brooks (2003-04). The former All-Americans will be recognized at halftime of the men’s game that night.
SWIMMERS ENJOY RECORD-SETTING DAY IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE VS. ROLLINS ... The swimming team wrapped up its regular season last Saturday with record-setting performances against Rollins. The men beat Rollins for the first time ever, 125-79, and the women won 137-67. Five school records were set by the men and FSC earned its first NCAA qualifier. The 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relay teams set records, with individual records going to Jeb Halfacre in the 100-yard backstroke and newcomer Miguel Ferreira in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Halfacre’s time of 50.64 seconds made him the Moccasins’ first qualifier for the NCAA Championships Mar. 10-13 in Canton, Ohio. In addition to his individual effort, he also swam the leadoff leg on the two record-setting relay teams and that performance earned him the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week Award. Ferreira had an impressive FSC debut. A freshman from Caracas, Venezuela, he just joined the team earlier this month and was swimming in his first meet. His time of 57.77 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke was a provisional NCAA qualifying time. In their win over Rollins, the women had triple wins by Liz Broadley in the 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle and double wins from Rae-Lynn Sheffield in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Coach Duncan Sherrard’s squad is preparing for its next competition, the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship Feb. 17-20 at Charlotte, N.C.
SPRING SPORTS HERE WE GO ... It still may be January, but Moccasin spring sports teams are about ready to start their seasons. The men’s lacrosse team plays the first of its two exhibition games on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jacksonville. The second exhibition will be at home on Feb. 9 at Bryant Stadium against Hartwick at 7 p.m. The Moccasin baseball team, ranked second in the NCAA Division II preseason coaches’ poll, opens its 2010 season Tuesday night at 7 at Henley Field against Warner. Both tennis teams get their spring seasons started Wednesday. The women, ranked 16th in Division II, play at home at 3 p.m. against Saint Leo, while the men, ranked 13th, play at Webber International at 3 p.m.
TICKETS FOR MOCS’ GAME VS. DETROIT TIGERS AVAILABLE AT ATHLETICS OFFICE ... Tickets for the baseball team’s annual spring training game with the Detroit Tigers on Mar. 2 are available at the FSC Athletics Office for $16. Game time is 1:05 p.m. at Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
MOCCASIN STUDENT-ATHLETES PARTICIPATE IN SSC PROJECT ... Five Moccasin student-athletes were among the over 100 student-athletes from Sunshine State Conference schools who participated in the SSC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee community service project earlier this month. The group volunteered for a day of service at the Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee. Give Kids the World Village is a non-profit resort for children with life-threatening illnesses. Representing FSC were men’s tennis players Kirk Kucin, C.J. Johnson, Brian deMontfort, T.J. Krishnan and Will Wold, along with head coach Trey Heath. To date the SSC SAAC has logged 912 volunteer hours at the Give Kids the World Village in the past three years.
FORMER MOCS ASSISTANT CLOSE TO MILESTONE WIN ... Former Moccasin assistant men’s basketball coach Kirk Speraw, currently the head coach at Central Florida, is one win away from a significant milestone. His next win will be his 275th at UCF, which will make him the UCF career leader in men’s basketball coaching wins. In his 17th season as UCF’s head coach, Speraw was an assistant coach at FSC from 1982-87 under George Scholz. The Moccasins went 109-46 while he was on the coaching staff, made four NCAA Tournament appearances and finished third in the NCAA Tournament in 1986. UFC plays at home Saturday against Tulsa.
THE MOCS REPORT ... The weekly Mocs Report can be heard on WLKF (1430 AM) in Lakeland each Friday at approximately 7:35 a.m. FSC Sports Information Director Bill Turnage provides information and updates on Moccasin Athletics each week with Mayhem in the AM host Seth Mela.
MOCCASIN UPDATES ... SnakeBytes is just one way to follow the Mocs. Fans also can get the latest scores and schedule updates from the FSC Sports Information Hotline. Call 680-3954 locally or toll-free at 1-800-825-MOCS (6627). You also can sign up for e-scores and have Moccasin results come to your cell phone or computer. Go to the Moccasin athletics web site at www.fscmocs.com, then click on the e-scores link to sign up. Become a fan of the Mocs on Facebook at http://bit.ly/fscmocs or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/fsc_athletics.