Men's basketball team beats Daytona State in conference game

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team made big shots down the stretch to defeat Daytona State College 73-60 in a Central Conference game Monday at Titan Field House.

The Titans hit 13 3-pointers against Daytona State College to improve to 13-4 overall and 11-2 in the conference. 

With 2:02 remaining in the first half Chris Roth hit a big 3-pointer to give the Titans a 26-22 lead and teammate Nick Alves scored the final four points as Eastern Florida State College finished the half on an 8-2 run.

The Titans would open the second half in a big way as Alves, Christyon Eugene and Markus Harding all hit 3-pointers in the first four minutes to extend the lead to 45-31.

But Daytona State College would rally back, going on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to two, 47-45 with 12:45 remaining. Daytona State College would briefly take the lead back with 10:18 left but Lovre Jaya hit a 3-pointer to tie the game once again.

Down one Roth hit another 3-pointer to give the Titans a 57-55 lead. With 5:47 remaining, Roth hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Titans a 65-57 lead with five minutes remaining. The sophomore would hit his fourth 3-pointer with 3:32 left to give the Titans an eight-point lead.

Alves finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds while Roth finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line. Eugene had 13 points and Markus Harding had 12 points.

Brandon Betson finished with 24 points for the Falcons.

Eastern Florida State College will travel to Polk State College Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest and be back at Titan Field House Saturday to host Hillsborough Community College at 4:30 p.m.