Dada hits free throw to lift men's basketball to win

Ayo Dada hit a free throw with one second left to give the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team a 65-64 win over the College of Central Florida in a Mid-Florida Conference game Wednesday night on the road.

The Titans improve to 17-6 overall and 3-2 in the conference and hand the College of Central Florida its first conference loss.

Eastern Florida State College trailed for most of the first half but made a nice 14-5 run to trail 30-29 at the half. The second half was all Titans as they started on an 11-3 run and built the lead to 14 points in the first six minutes of the second half. But the Patriots would come storming back and took the lead back 52-51 with 7:05 remaining.

From there the teams traded baskets until the final minute. Ilija Stefanovic made one of his two free throws to tie the game with 1:10 remaining, setting up the finish.

Dada finished with nine points but none bigger than the final free throw. Nick Stampley had his third double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Teammate Johnny Bernard finished with 13 points and Jalen Warren scored 10 in the win.

"What a beautiful win. Anytime we can win with defense and rebounding, it's a beautiful win. We don't worry as much about the offensive end, so this was just beautiful," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "I am so proud of our guys, really proud beyond words."

The loss snaps an eight-game win streak for the Patriots who are now 4-1 in the conference.

Eastern Florida State College will be back at Titan Field House next Wednesday night against the Florida State College at Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m. Admission to Titan Field House is free.