Titan men's basketball team tops Shelton State

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team finished 2016 with a bang, defeating No. 21 Shelton State 84-70 in the final game of the Josh Artis Memorial Crowne Plaza Classic on Saturday.

The No. 7 Titans got things going early behind the play of sophomore Kareem Brewton who had 16 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 28.

"Kareem was unbelievable, he should why he can be the best player in the country – he carried us," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "We did not have that 'It factor' especially in the first half and he carried us in the first half."

Up eight at the half the Titans quickly jumped out to a 15-point lead as Brewton had a steal and layup and then Ahmed Ali hit a big 3-pointer to give the Titans a 47-32 lead just three minutes into the second half.

The game stayed that way for most of the rest of the game as neither team could get on a run.

"This really started when we faced Northwest Florida, with the energy we had and we really got into the details," Brewton said. "We knew they liked to run up and down the court and so we wanted to do that as well."

Shaq Carter finished with 13 points and Joan Duran had 10 in the game for the Titans who improved to 14-1 on the season.

Joshua Knight finished with 22 points for No. 21 Shelton State, who fell to 13-2 on the season.

Eastern Florida State College will open the Southern Conference on Wednesday, traveling to Broward.