Men's basketball team tops College of Central Florida, moves into tie for conference lead

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team defeated the College of Central Florida to pull into a tie for first place in the Mid-Florida Conference standings Saturday at Titan Field House.

Titans sophomore Osayi Osifo was fouled with 15.6 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to give Eastern Florida State College a 51-48 lead. From there the defense made sure it held as the men's basketball team improved to 4-2 in the conference, tied with the College of Central Florida.

The Patriots took a 22-19 lead into halftime but the Titans came out on a 15-6 run behind the duo of Calvin Poulina and Osifo who scored all 15 points during the run to give the Titans a 34-28 lead with 13:46 remaining.

The lead would reach 10 on a Jonathan Ned basket but the College of Central Florida would go on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 44-44 with three minutes left setting up the big finish.

Osifo led the attack with 16 points and eight rebounds while Brody Boyer grabbed nine rebounds to go with his four points. Teammate Johnny Bernard finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

The men's basketball team will travel to Daytona State College Wednesday night for a conference game beginning at 7 p.m.