Men's basketball team knocks off No. 24 Salt Lake

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team avenged a loss earlier in the season Friday night, defeating No. 24 ranked Salt Lake Community College.

The Titans won their seventh straight game with the 72-61 win in the Jim Grimes Memorial Classic at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.

"Tonight was so incredibly special. I am so proud of our guys, they faced some adversity and our guys stepped up and played their hearts out," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "I truly believe coach Grimes was looking over us tonight."

The Titans got going right from the tipoff, leading 12-3 in the first five minutes but Salt Lake came back using the 3-point shot to tie it 12-12. The game stayed close throughout the rest of the first half and the teams were deadlocked 30-30 at halftime.

Sophomore Osayi Osifo had a huge dunk and another basket to give the Titans a 54-50 lead with seven minutes left. With under three minutes left Amar Tiganj made it a 13-point game with a 3-pointer and the Titans held on for the 11-point lead.

Tiganj finished with a season-high 20 points while Osifo tied his season high with 17 points. Nick Alves finished with 13 points and Brody Boyer had a career-high 11 in the win.

The Titans, who improved to 9-5 on the season, will play Miami-Dade at 2 p.m. Saturday in the final game of the tournament.

Miami-Dade defeated Pensacola State College 81-73 behind Victor Hart's 35-point performance. The Sharks were up big in the second half but Pensacola stormed back to cut the lead to 10 points but could not get any closer.

Pensacola State College will play Salt Lake Community College in the first game of the day Saturday, beginning at noon.

Admission is free to Titan Field House.