Men's basketball team loses in semifinals of FCSAA Men's Basketball Championship

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team lost in the semifinals of the FCSAA Men's Basketball Championship Friday at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

The Titans, who were the No. 1 seed in the tournament, lost to host and No. 4 seed Northwest Florida State College 71-62.

The Titans led for most of the first half before an 11-0 Raiders run gave them a 34-28 lead with 2:40 left in the first half. The Titans would head to the break trailing 36-31.

Eastern Florida State College came out in the second half as Matus Malovec and Matija Zuzic each hit 3-pointers to cut the lead to one point, but Northwest Florida State College went on a quick 5-0 run to put the lead back to six.

The Titans made one final rally as Owen Aquino had six straight points to cut the lead to 56-52 and later a Matija Zuzic 3-pointer made it a three-point game once again.

Down the stretch, the Raiders would extend the lead to pick up the win and advance to the championship game.

Owen Aquino finished the game with 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds while Andrija Bukumirovic had 13 points and Matija Zuzic added 12 for the Titans.

Eastern Florida State College is now 27-5 and will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The bids will come out on Sunday night and the tournament begins March 24.