Men's basketball team opens conference season at home Saturday afternoon

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team will tip off the conference season Saturday afternoon at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.

The defending conference champions will host Polk State College at 2 p.m. in their Central Conference opener.

Eastern Florida State College enters the conference season 10-5 and has won three of the past four games. The Titans have played eight teams that were ranked in the top 25 at the time and have four wins including two against top 10 teams. 

"I am really proud of what we have accomplished up to this point in the season, we have played one of the best schedules in the country and hopefully that has prepared us for the conference season," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said.

Polk State College comes into Saturday's game 11-5 overall and 1-0 in the conference and have won five of the past six including the last three. The Eagles are led by the duo of Tommie Lewis and Freddie Word who are averaging 14 and 12 points per game respectively.

"We are so excited about Saturday, we know it will be a battle," Shulman said. "They are tough, they are talented and have a lot of experience. They are very good defensively and can score in a lot of different ways. We are going to have to come out and play very well on Saturday." 

The Titans are allowing teams to score 65.9 points per game, which is the sixth-lowest in the state while scoring 79 points per game. Roberts Berze and Brody Boyer lead the scoring attack, both averaging at least 10.8 points per game this season.

Saturday's game is the first of 15 Central Conference games for the Titans, who have won at least a share of the conference title the past nine seasons. 

"The Central Conference is incredible, for whatever reason it doesn't have the name brand like the Panhandle, but our conference is deep and talented and may be as good as it has ever been this year," Shulman said. "All five teams are fantastic. Santa Fe is top 20 team in the country, Polk State is incredibly good, Daytona State is always really good, the Florida State College at Jacksonville is led by one of the top coaches in the state in Frank Burnell and St. Petersburg is led by a Hall of Famer in Earnest Crumbley."

Admission to games at Titan Field House are free and fans can watch the game live online on the EFSC Titans YouTube page.