Men's basketball team heading back to national tournament

For the fifth straight season, the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team is heading to the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The Titans, who are 26-7 and finished runner-up in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Tournament, are the No. 10 seed and will face Allegany Maryland in the first round of the tournament next Monday afternoon.

"It is just amazing, you saw the guys reaction when it was announced. It has been a nerve-wracking 48 hours since our loss in the finals," "We just want one more shot to get it done at Hutch. Just so thankful to everybody who put faith in us in our region."

Eastern Florida State College finished in third place last season in the national tournament, beating Vincennes in the third-place game. In 2017-18 the Titans finished second in the tourney.

Sophomores Jalen Warren, Nathanael Jack and Junior Madut were on last year's team that finished third and return to the tournament looking to make another run.

"Honestly I feel blessed, I thank God because as soon as we lost that championship game at states it is all I could think about, I have been praying about it, the whole team has been praying about it and to get a second chance two years in a row is amazing," Madut said.

Region VIII has three teams in the national tournament this season as Northwest Florida State College is the No. 1 seed and Florida Southwestern is the No. 5 seed.

The tournament begins Monday, March 18 with the finals scheduled for Saturday, March 23. Tournament games will be shown on NJCAA TV with the championship game being aired on CBS Sports Network.