Men's basketball team uses defense, deep bench to win national tournament opener

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team defeated Allegany College of Maryland 61-51 to advance in the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The Titans used a strong defense to hold Allegany to 30 percent shooting and the bench came up big to win the first-round matchup and advance to the second round against No. 7 seed Seward County Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

"The bench was so fantastic, guys like Osayi (Osifo), Mike Starks, Jonathan Ned really stepped up, we said it in the locker room – we are a deep team and we are getting a little healthier and that was the difference in the game tonight, along with defense and rebounding," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said.

Both teams got off to a slow start but with the score tied 6-6, freshman Osayi Osifo scored and was fouled for a three-point play and then scored again as the Titans went on an 11-0 run to take a 17-8 lead.

Allegany finished the first half with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to three, 25-22.

The game would swing in Allegany's favor in the second half as they took the lead.

But with 11:03 remaining, Nick Stampley grabbed a rebound and was fouled, hitting one of the two free throws to give the Titans the lead.

Osifo would score again and then Junior Madut made a nice cut for the dunk and the Titans were back up six, 41-35.

From there the Titans hung on for win No. 27 on the season. Osifo led the charge, tying a career high with 13 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench while Madut finished with 10 points, the third straight game the sophomore has scored in double digits.

"We are a defensive team, that is our bread and butter," Osifo said. "I give all the credit to my teammates, they found me in good spots and I got some looks off rebounds. I just played my role and gave effort and hustled."

For the game, the Titans outrebounded Allegany Maryland 49-29 and had 17 offensive rebounds.

Eastern Florida State College has now won the first game of the national tournament four straight seasons.

"It feels great to get this win, we had some nerves early and tomorrow we will be better," Osifo said.

Fans can watch the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament live online at njcaatv.com. A single broadcast is $4.99 and the championship tournament pass is $14.99.