Titan men's basketball team races past Polk State in season opener

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team tipped off the season in a big way, running past Polk State 84-53 on Tuesday night at Titan Field House.

Freshman Ahmed Ali said that he watched some Kyrie Irving highlights Monday night and then went out and put on a show in his college debut, scoring a team-high 23 points, 15 coming in the first half.

"Ahmed is an absolute special player and he showed it tonight," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "He's our point guard and he makes us go."

The Titans, who are No. 4 in the preseason NJCAA Division I poll, jumped out to 24-4 lead behind Kareem Brewton who had a quick seven points and finished with 20 points on the night.

"Coach told us to come out with a lot of energy and that's what we did," Brewton said. "It's a good start, everyone is confident and now we just have to bring that to practice tomorrow and keep getting better."

Noah Horchler added 10 points and Kaleel Solomon chipped in with eight as 11 players scored for the 1-0 Titans.

"I am just so glad to get the season under way. It has been a long preseason, the guys have worked their tails off and to finally get on the court and get the season under way at home and play well, I thought that we more than rose to the occasion," Shulman said.

The Titans will head to Tallahassee for the Tallahassee Classic on Friday and Saturday before returning to the Titan Field House Wednesday, Nov. 9, hosting St. Petersburg at 7 p.m.