Titan Men Upset in Tournament's First Round

Eastern Florida's men's basketball team let a 21-point lead slip away en route to a 76-67 upset loss to Tallahassee Community College in the first round of the NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Tournament on Wednesday.

The Titans, the four-time FCSAA Southern Conference champion and the tournament's top seed led 55-34 with 16 minutes and 17 seconds remaining but were outscored 42-12 as Tallahassee clamped down defensively and found the range offensively.

The loss dropped the Titans to 27-4 but there is a chance they could, based on their No. 4 national ranking coming into the tournament, earn one of four at-large bids to the NJCAA Men's Division I National Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas in March.

The defeat, at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, marked the second time in four tournament appearances that the Titans lost in the first round, the first coming in 2014. In 2013 and 2015 the Titans lost in the tournament finale to eventual national champions College of Central Florida and Northwest Florida State.

This time the Titans had their way for the first 24 minutes, leading 42-32 at halftime and extending the advantage over the first four minutes of the second half.

But things then went the other way and the Titans find themselves hoping to secure an at-large national tournament berth on Sunday.

"I'm just sick because it's been a long time since we've had this feeling," said Eastern Florida head coach Jeremy Shuman. "It's such a big stage and I feel for our guys who battled so hard and played so well for a while.

"It just wasn't our day today. My hat goes off to Coach (Mark) White, my former boss, and Tallahassee. They never gave up. They're a scrappy, fantastic team.

"I feel for our guys and if we're fortunate enough to get an large-bid hopefully we learn from this and we're better in Hutchinson, Kansas."

The Titans were better in the first half behind 17 points from C.J. Jackson who finished with 26 points. Kareem Brewton added 20.

B.J. Gladden secured 16 rebounds.

However, the Titans managed just five baskets from the floor over the final 16:17. The Titans won the rebound battle 57-34 but were only 6-for-30 from the three-point line to 11-for-34 for the Eagles.

The Eagles were 15-for-28 from the free throw line to 11-for-18 for the Titans. The Eagles shot 41 percent from the floor to 35 percent for the Titans.

The Titans committed 20 turnovers and the Eagles recorded 14 steals to two for the Titans.

Tallahassee, the Panhandle Conference runner-up, improved to 20-11.