Titan Men Win Fourth Straight Conference Basketball Title

Champions again.

Eastern Florida's men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Palm Beach State 96-85 in overtime on Saturday in Lake Worth to win its fourth consecutive FCSAA Southern Conference championship.

The four straight Southern Conference titles are believed to be a first in the modern era.

The Titans, ranked second in Florida and 11^th nationally, improved to 11-0 in the conference for the first time in head coach Jeremy Shulman's six years at the helm and moved to 23-3 overall.

Palm Beach fell to 6-5 and 20-5, three of its five losses coming to the Titans.

The Titans trailed 37-25 at halftime but fought back to a 78-78 tie at the end of regulation to force the overtime period. Earlier this conference season they trailed 30-17 at halftime at Miami Dade but won 64-60.

Freshman C.J. Jackson led the Titans with 39 points on Saturday.

"C.J. Jackson was beyond phenomenal," Shulman said.

"I am speechless with this group. Speechless. This group is just such an amazing group. I am blessed to be their coach. They just find a way. They are an unbelievable group of guys. We found a way tonight against an outstanding team for the third time this year. They are an unbelievable group of guys. Just special."

Freshmen Keoni Wallington and Austin Awad added 12 points each for the Titans and sophomore B.J. Gladden 10.

"It was a tough conference win," Jackson said. "No better way to win the conference than on our rival Palm Beach's floor."

The Titans have four conference games remaining before making their fourth straight appearance in the NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Tournament where they have finished as runner-up twice in the last three seasons.

The Titans host Broward College at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will be televised live on WEFS-TV and streamed live at wwww.efsctitans.com/webcast, host ASA Miami on Feb. 13, Indian River State in another TV game on Feb. 16 and close the regular season on Feb. 18 at Miami Dade College.

The postseason tournament is March 2-5 at the College of Central Florida in Ocala.

The Titans team is Jackson, Gladden, Awad, Wallington, sophomores Djordje Beronja and Zavier Peart and freshmen Kareem Brewton, Joan Duran, Richard Gaines and Jalen Glover.

Reggie Freeman, Lynn Cundiff, Anthony Jackson and Greg Gage assist Shulman. Team manager is Michael Berry.