Men's basketball team rings in New Year with tourney

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team will host the New Year Classic beginning Tuesday evening at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus. 

The classic begins with the host Titans playing Monroe College who comes in 9-5 and has won two straight games. Monroe College is led by former Titan Jhery Matos and Isaiah Ward who each average 13 points per game.

The Titans are 15-1 and are No. 5 in the NJCAA Division I poll, winning 14 straight games heading into the week. The Titans are led by Ahmed Ali who comes into the contest averaging 19.9 points per game and has scored at least 11 points in all 16 of the Titans games this season.

In the second game of opening night, Harcum College will play Miami-Dade at 7 p.m. Harcum comes into the week 9-3 but is looking for a win after losing two in a row. Harcum is led by guard Myron Gordon who is averaging 23.7 points per game.

Miami-Dade is 10-5 and has won two straight and has four players averaging at least 14 points per game. DJ Russell has scored at least 17 in the past four games.

The action tips off at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday as Miami-Dade faces Monroe College and then the Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team plays Indian River State College at 5:30 p.m. before the Titan men's basketball team hosts Harcum at 7:30 p.m.

The last game of the New Year Classic is Thursday at 2 p.m. when Palm Beach State plays Monroe College. Palm Beach State is 10-7 on the season and is led by Malik Curry who averages 19.5 points per game and has scored at least 13 points in each of the last 10 games he has played in.

Admission is free to Titan Field House.