Dominic Lane was named Sunshine State Conference player of the week on Jan. 28, starting a string of three-consecutive Florida Southern College men’s basketball players to earn the award.
Seniors Brett Bailey and Seth Evans followed up on Lane’s achievement by taking the award the past two weeks. The Mocs’ dominance of the SSC Player-of-the-Week award is indicative of not only their successful season, but of the team’s mentality.
Lane, a 6”2 junior guard out of St. Petersburg, attributes the Mocs’ ability to share the basketball—and the accolades—to the team’s strong chemistry.
“We all hang out outside of basketball, off campus and on campus,” Lane said. “I think it contributes to us being able to share the ball so well. It also helps knowing that any given night anybody can score 20 points.”
Although the Mocs’ depth has been a huge strength this season, there are only so many minutes to be spread out between the nine or 10 guys that head coach Linc Darner plays in a given game. Lane said the team’s selflessness regarding minutes and scoring has been a big factor in its success.
“I think it’s about maturity and knowing coach’s system. If we play selfish we won’t play as well,” Lane said. “So if we want to win, we have to play together as a team and everybody has to believe in that.”
So far, the deep lineup employed by Darner has worked wonders, helping the Mocs wear opponents out on their way to an 18-2 overall record.
“I think it’s for sure the deepest team I’ve ever played on,” Lane said. “We’re able to wear teams out, then in the second half we’re able to shoot the ball much better than our opponents.”
Lane is optimistic that the Mocs and their exhausting run and gun style can continue to thrive through the postseason.
“I think we have a really good chance to host regionals, which is one of our main goals,” Lane said. “We want to win the conference and get to Atlanta for the final four.”
If the Mocs can keep their momentum rolling all the way to Atlanta, their final four games will be televised. That has added a little extra incentive for Lane and the Mocs after watching their female counterparts put on a show on CBS College Sports Network last week.
“We talk about it every day. We want to get to Atlanta and be on TV,” Lane said. “We were kind of jealous that the girls got to play on TV and we didn’t.”
The Mocs will wrap up the regular season with five more contests, including a home date with Rollins on March 2. Lane and the Mocs will begin their quest for Atlanta and the primetime on March 6 when they head to Kissimmee for the SSC Tournament.
