Men's basketball team hits road for key conference game against Polk State College

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team will hit the road for a battle with Polk State College with first place on the line.

The Titans come into the matchup on a five-game winning streak and are 15-6 overall and 5-1 in the Central College. They will face a Polk State College team that is 5-0 in the conference, 15-5 overall and have won seven straight games.

Both teams are receiving votes in the NJCAA Division I poll.

Eastern Florida State College lost to Polk State College in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 8. 

"We are very excited about the opportunity in front of us in a key conference game at Polk," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Jeremy Shulman said. "Polk is one of the best teams in the country for a reason – they are talented and very well coached. They may be the best defensive team in the nation. We are going to need to play well and not only play defense and rebound well, but we are also going to have to execute well and find ways to score against such an elite defense."

The game will feature two of the better defenses in the country as the Titans are allowing 64.3 points per game while Polk State College is allowing 67.3.

The Eagles are led offensively by Tommie Lewis who is scoring 14.3 points per game while Freddie Word is averaging 12.3 points per game.

The Titans come into the contest with a trio of players averaging at least 10 points per game led by the duo of Derrick Butler and Roberts Berze who each average 11 points per game.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and is the first of two road games for the Titans who will travel to Santa Fe College on Saturday for another big Central Conference game.