Men's basketball team plays for Region 8 title tonight

Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said it best, hopefully the third time is a charm.

The Titans will play in their third Region VIII Men's Basketball Championship game in five seasons and will meet St. Petersburg for the third time this season after the two teams split the first two meetings during the regular season.

Eastern Florida State College defeated Northwest Florida in the semifinals 83-79 Friday night behind sophomore Kareem Brewton, who had a game-high 25 points.

"That is why we call ourselves Team 7, coach said this is the team that can get it and we are here," Brewton said. "We just have to produce. We have been working so hard since beach workouts over the summer, we just have to go out and win it now."

A win Saturday night would be the first Region VIII title for the Titans under Jeremy Shulman and a bid to the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas beginning March 20.

St. Petersburg advanced to the championship game with a victory against Daytona State as Tristan Owens hit a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime and the Titans went on to win 80-76.

The two teams met in the semifinals in 2015 with the Titans picking up the 92-85 win in overtime. Eastern Florida State College lost to Northwest Florida in the championship game that season. Owens and Jason Burnell each had 21 points in the game.

It is St. Petersburg's second appearance in the Region VIII championship game since 2002, losing to Chipola in 2014.

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live at cfpatriots.net/fcsaatournament