Men's basketball team gets rematch in NJCAA Tournament opener

Hutchinson, KS - The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team opens the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships Wednesday with a familiar foe.

The Titans come into the tournament 28-5 on the season and come into the tournament as the No. 6 seed, receiving a bye into the round of 16. They will face Monroe College who knocked off Indian Hills in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday.

"It is easier in some ways because I have some notes on them and can go back to the film but makes it harder because they have notes on us," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said about the rematch with Monroe who the Titans faced in December. "It was a close game and there shouldn't be any change in mentality for either team."

The game came down to the final minutes with the Titans picking up the 65-55 regular season win and Shulman feels good about the team's chances in the tournament.

 "I feel great, feel the best I have felt in the three years I have been out here because of the character of this team, the makeup of this team, the people on this team. We are going to give it our best shot, every team is fantastic especially when you get to the Sweet 16," Shulman said.

"We are playing a very talented, athletic and skilled Monroe College team and we know first hand just how good they are. We know we have to play a great game in order to beat them, but either way I feel great about it because of who we are and because of the type of people we have on this team."

The Titans are led by the tri of Kareem Brewton, Ahmed Ali and Austin Awad who all average at least 10 points per game.

Wednesday night's game will tip off at 9 p.m. EDT and will be shown live on efsctitans.com/webcast