Men's basketball team falls short at state tournament, ends season 22-9

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball fell in the quarterfinals of the FCSAA State Tournament at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida.

The sixth-seeded Titans fell to No. 3 Northwest Florida State College 63-59 to finish the season 22-9 overall. 

Markus Harding tied his career high with 18 points in the game, hitting four of six 3-pointers off the bench for the Titans.

The Titans had as much as an eight-point lead in the first half with strong defense and rebounding. But Northwest Florida hit a couple of shots to cut the Titans lead to two, 31-29 at halftime.

The Raiders took their first lead of the game with just under 14 minutes remaining and went on an 8-0 run.

The Titans fought back and a Justin Reid basket cut the lead back to three. Northwest Florida State College would get the lead back up to nine points with 2:10 remaining but the Titans would not go quietly.

Markus Harding hit his final 3-pointer to cut the lead to five with just under a minute left and Reggie Hill hit his only 3-pointer of the contest with 7.9 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game, 61-59. The Raiders would hit two free throws to make it a four-point game and the Titans last-second shot was off target.

Brody Boyer finished with 14 points, Hill had seven points and seven rebounds and Reid finished with six points and seven rebounds.

"So proud of the guys, not just for an incredible effort today but for the entire season," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "This group accomplished some special things and will forever be in my heart. I love these guys."

The loss marks the first time in four seasons that the men's basketball team has not reached the semifinals of the state tournament.