Titan Men Making Final Preparations for State Tournament

Eastern Florida's men's basketball team, in familiar surroundings, took the penultimate step toward its NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Tournament opener on Wednesday with a spirited 55-minute practice at he College of Central Florida.

The Titans are in the tournament for the fourth straight time as the FCSAA Southern Conference champions, the third time at CCF.

The Titans finished as tournament runner-up last season at CCF and lost in the first round at CCF in 2014.

They finished as runner-up in 2013 at Chipola College in Marianna.

Both of the championship game loses were to the eventual national champions, CCF in 2013 and Northwest Florida last season.

The team is ready to make amends.

"It means a lot, this is the second time I'm in the state tournament and expectations are high," said sophomore Djordje Beronja, a cog in Eastern Florida's 15-0 Southern Conference finish and its 27-3 overall mark.

"I hope we are going to win rings this time," Beronja added. "This is really exciting because this is the last time I am playing for this school at the state tournament and I hope it's going to be successful. Motivation is big. We lost in the final last year, I hope we can make it this year."

For Titan freshman Austin Awad, a state tournament appearance is not unique but it is certainly different.

Awad reached the state high school final four last season at Melbourne High but things are different this time.

"I'm very excited to be here," Awad said. "It's  completely different stage, completely different level of basketball,  whole other animal really."

Head coach Jeremy Shulman, the four-time conference Coach of the Year, also was feeling the excitement.

"I'm nervous as always," Shulman said. "But that' nothing different than any home game against (conference foe) Indian River or a road game against (conference foe) Broward, etc., etc.

"I'm excited for the guys, I'm excited for the program. It's an unbelievable experience, a wonderful opportunity. The guys are ready.

"We're excited to dial it up tomorrow."

The Titans will wrap up preparation for Wednesday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal against Tallahassee Community College with a 10 a.m. walk-through at CCF.

The men's tournament games will be live streamed at https://youtu.be/KJsZxloLMTs

Eastern Florida's women's team, making its second straight appearance as Southern Conference champions, arrives in Ocala on Wednesday. They open at 6 p.m. Thursday against defending national champion and Panhandle Conference runner-up Chipola College.

The women's games will be live streamed at https://youtu.be/bRW-MJUJjmg