LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern, the nation's top-ranked NCAA Division II men's basketball team, used several large runs to pull away and defeat the Benedict College Tigers 89-68 in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament on the campus of Florida Southern on Saturday night.

The Moccasins, now 31-1, had six players in double figures, led by Michael Volovic and Dominique Williams with 16 points each.  All-American guard Kevin Capers had 15 points and Bubby Johnson had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Benedict ends its season at 19-12. Deonte Johnson led the Tigers with a game-high 21 points, while Jordan Smith added 15 points. Brennan Reynard also hit double figures with 11 points.

Benedict had a 30-22 lead at the 9:37 mark in the first half after a three-point play by Johnson, who scored on a fast-break dunk and was fouled. But then the Tigers went scoreless for more than five minutes and the Moccasins scored 19 straight points to take a 41-30 lead. Benedict cut the lead to 46-42 at the half on a 3-pointer by Smith and two free throws by Johnson.

The Moccasins opened the second half with seven straight points. The lead grew to as much as 26 points, 81-55, on a fast-break dunk by Tyler Logan with 5:50 left in the game after another run that saw the Mocs score eight consecutive points.

"They're the number one team in the country for a reason," Benedict head coach Fred Watson said. "Coming into the game, the guys knew we would have to put together a humongous effort to try and get this win, which they did. Everybody knew on paper Florida Southern was the better team. We knew the challenge we were facing, and we were up for it. But they had a little bit too much in the end. We're still a really good ball club, but today, they proved they were the number one team in the country."

One of the facets that makes Florida Southern such a dominating team is their defense, Watson said. The Tigers had trouble executing their offense due to the Mocs' quick players.

"That's the best defensive team we've played this year by far," Watson said. "They're the best defensive team in the country. They shoot the ball extremely well, and they've got the best player in the country, so offensively, it makes it hard to guard because he beats you off the dribble and now they've got three or four guys that all shoot the ball equally well."

"In the first half, I thought Benedict played very well," said Florida Southern coach Linc Darner. "The second half, we played the way we're capable of."

Darner said the Mocs planned their defense on stopping Andrew Crawford from the 3-point line, and held the Tiger sharpshooter to three points. Crawford had just four shot attempts, all 3-pointers, and connected on one.

"We watched film on him knocking three after three. Our whole thing was to not let him get going from the 3-point line, and we tried to limit Jordan Smith, too. I think we did a good job. And we wanted to contain 10 (Reynard). We've played him the last three years, and he's awfully good at getting to the paint and I thought we did a real good job there. And Johnson, I know he got 21, but I thought we did a better job guarding him in the second half. The tough thing about Benedict, like Tuskegee last year, you're playing a team that has won a bunch of games in a row to get here. I thought they played with a lot of confidence the first half. We did a good job battling back in the second half."