Boyer's big shot gives Titans win over No. 4 Chipola College
Brody Boyer hit one of the most remarkable shots in Eastern Florida State College history Friday night, helping the No. 11 Titans defeat No. 4 Chipola College 73-71 in overtime in the Florida JUCO Shootout Friday night.
With 4.5 seconds remaining in overtime, Boyer took the inbound pass, slipped but kept dribbling. He regained his balance and took three dribbles before taking a shot from way outside that found the bottom of the net, giving the Titans a huge win.
Eastern Florida State College improved to 3-0 with the win and handed Chipola its first loss of the season as they fell to 3-1.
It was Boyer's seventh 3-pointer of the game as the sophomore from Palm Bay scored 23 points including several big shots that kept the Titans within striking distance of Chipola.
"I was just trying to get off a good shot, I knew I had to get it off before the buzzer. Coach told me I had about four dribbles before the buzzer and got the shot off," Boyer said.
And he got things going quickly, hitting his first 3-pointer two minutes into the game. The Titans took an 11-3 lead on a Justin Reid basket but the Indians would come right back and tied the game, 14-14 with 10:28 remaining.
It would remain close until Reggie Hill and Roberts Berze hit 3-pointers late in the first half to give the Titans a lead. Hill would hit another 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining in the half to grab a nine point lead, 35-26.
The second half would see the Indians came out shooting well and cut the lead to one, 41-40 four minutes into the second half.
Once again it was Boyer who tied the game up at 47-47 with 13 minutes remaining. The Indians would score seven quick points to once again take the lead but the Titans continued to battle and eventually tied it 62-62.
Hil once again hit a big shot with under a minute left to tie the game 64-64. The teams would finish regulation with the score 64-64. Chipola took a lead in overtime but Berze was fouled taking a three-pointer and would hit all three free throws to tie it 67-67. Down three with under a minute to go Justin Reid scored and was fouled. As he hit the free throw to cut the Chipola lead to one with 55.8 seconds remaining in overtime. After a timeout with under 10 seconds remaining, the inbounds pass went wide and ended up going out at the end line with 4.5 seconds remaining. That set up what would be a remarkable finish by Boyer.
"It's just an incredibly special win, honestly it is a once-in-a-lifetime type of win against a team the caliber of Chipola, as well coached as they are under coach Tindell," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "The atmosphere was just incredible. The baseball team was so energetic, all of the student-athletes and the community that came out tonight made it an incredible atmosphere and Brody Boyer was incredible."
Eastern Florida State College will play the State College of Manatee in the final game of the tournament, Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Titan Field House. SCF-Manatee defeated the Florida State College at Jacksonville 86-51 on Friday to improve to 4-1. Javon Bell hit five 3-pointers in the second half and scored 21 points for the Manatees in the win.
In other games on Friday, Santa Fe defeated Miami Dade 78-60 as Bradley Douglas had 15 points in the win. Khalil Turner had 17 points for Miami Dade in the loss.
No. 22 Florida Southwestern also won on Friday, defeating Tallahassee 61-55. The Bucs were led by Kaiyem Cleary's 14 points to improve to 3-1.
On Saturday, Miami Dade will play Tallahassee at noon with the Florida State College at Jacksonville playing Florida Southwestern at 2:30 p.m. Santa Fe will play No. 4 Chipola at 5 p.m. with the No. 11 Titans wrapping up the shootout against the State College of Florida-Manatee at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free to games at Titan Field House and all of the games will be shown live online at EFSC Titans YouTube page.