Men's basketball team loses in state tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team went cold in the second half Wednesday night, falling to Chipola College in the state tournament quarterfinal at the College of Central Florida in Ocala.

The No. 6-ranked Titans are now 27-4 overall after the 77-65 loss, snapping a seven-game win streak.

The Titans got off to a slow start but started to pick up the pace in the final 10 minutes of the first half, building as much as a 15-point lead. But Chipola went on an 11-4 run at the end of the first half to cut the lead to 10 at halftime.

Baskets by Silas Adheke and Michael Nuga early in the second half once again had the Titans up 12 but could not find the range and did not score for the next four minutes as Chipola tied the game, 49-49. Chipola would take the lead with 9:25 remaining but Adheke hit another shot to give the Titans its final lead of the game.

Freshman Nathanael Jack had a team-high 20 points, hitting six 3-pointers in the game. Sophomores Shaq Carter and Ahmed Ali each had 10 points in the game.

As a team, the Titans shot 20.6 percent from the floor in the second half and 33.3 percent for the game. 

The Titans will now have to wait until Monday to see if they receive an at-large bid into the NJCAA National Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.