Men's basketball team loses to Tallahassee at JUCO Shootout

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team lost in the final game of the JUCO Shootout Sunday night at Eastern Florida State College.

The Titans, who fell to 9-4 on the season with the 90-69 loss to Tallahassee.

Eastern Florida State College took an early lead in the game, but Tallahassee came out shooting and had a 10-point lead five minutes into the contest.

The Titans finished well down the stretch to cut into the lead as Tallahassee was up 17 points at halftime, leading 52-35.

The lead would reach 27 but down the stretch the Titans would cut it under 20 points a few times on some big shots but could not get any closer.

Caleb Byrd led the offensive attack with 28 points, while Andres Burney finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Tallahassee had four players score in double figures led by Malachi Davis' 26 points. The Eagles improved to 12-1 on the season and are ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA Division I poll.

Tallahassee was one of three unbeaten teams this weekend at the JUCO Shootout.

Chipola College also went 2-0, edging Florida Southwestern on a last-second 3-pointer on Sunday.

Chipola's Jatarian Warren hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 0.7 seconds remaining to give the Indians a 70-69 win. It was the only 3-pointer that Warren had made all season.

Chipola led 38-33 at halftime but Florida Southwestern held a lead with under a minute left. Florida Southwestern fell to 8-4 while Chipola remained unbeaten at 15-0 and are ranked tied for third in NJCAA poll.

Paul Greene led Chipola with 18 points while Dezdrick Lindsay led the Bucs with 19 points.

Miami Dade also went 2-0 at the Shootout, defeating St. Petersburg College 54-46. The Sharks got out to a fast start and led 20-12 at halftime. But St. Petersburg battled them in the second half with Miami Dade pulling away for the win. Tyriek Weeks had 12 points while Matthew Khoury and Jamichael Stillwell each had 11 points in the win.

Polk State College picked up a big win Sunday, defeating Indian River State College 83-76. Polk State College jumped out to an 11-4 lead before Indian River came back with run of their own and led 25-19 at one point in the first half. But Polk State kept things close and Indian River led by just two at the half, 40-38. The game remained tight, but a Jeremiah Russell 3-pointer gave Polk some breathing room with a minute left. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for Polk State.