Boyer once again hits last-second shot to help men's basketball post win
For the second straight night Brody Boyer made sure the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team picked up a win.
After hitting a buzzer beater on Friday night, Boyer took the ball in the final seconds and drove to the basket, hitting the game winner with under a second lift to propel the Titans to a 71-69 win over the State College of Florida-Manatee Saturday night in the Florida JUCO Shootout at Titan Field House.
The Manatees came out hot in the first half, building as much as a 17-point lead late in the half and went into halftime with a 15-point lead against the No. 11 Titans.
Still down 11 points with just under nine minutes remaining, the Titans made a key 9-2 run beginning with a Roberts Berze 3-pointer and finished the 9-2 run with a Brody Boyer basket. Justin Reid made a basket and was fouled, seeing him to the line. He would hit the free throw to cut the FSC-Jacksonville lead to 67-63. Derrick Butler would pull the Titans closer with his two free throws and the Titans found themselves within two points.
Reggie Hill grabbed the rebound off a miss and then hit the shot to tie the game, 67-67 with one minute and 42 seconds left.
Manatee's James 'Pop' Weathers would give them the lead once again at 69-67 but Berze made two free throws to once again tie the game 69-69 and set up the big shot.
Once again it came down to one shot and just like Friday, it was Boyer who got the ball. This time instead of taking a 3-pointer, Boyer drove, stopped and buried a tough shot to hand the Manatees a tough loss.
"It is unbelievable how proud of these guys I am, I learned we are a little tougher than I thought we are," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "I knew tonight was going to be a tough game coming off such an emotional win and come back and play a tough opponent again tonight."
Eastern Florida State College was led by Brandon Garcia who had 17 points, which is 4-0 on the season. Boyer finished with 16 points and Berze finished the game with 12 points.
"This is a really good moment for me and the team, but I was just thinking the same thing as last night I was just hoping the shot went in," Boyer said.
In other games at Titan Field Saturday, Tallahasee defeated Miami Dade 65-53 behind Derriko Williams' 13 points while Byron Scott had 12 points for the Eagles.
Florida Southwestern was one of two schools to win on both Friday and Saturday, defeating the Florida State College at Jacksonville 99-67. Kaiyem Cleary led the attack with 15 points as seven players scored in double digits for the 22nd-ranked Bucs, who improved to 4-1.
Santa Fe led for most of the first half, but No. 4 Chipola College got hot in the second to pick up the win 74-69. The Indians had four players score at least 10 points led by Shayeon Davis who had 13.
Eastern Florida State College (4-0) will travel to Florida Southwestern on Nov. 19 and 20, facing a pair of unbeaten teams. The Titans will play Spartanburg Methodist Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then Snow College Saturday at noon.
