Men's basketball team tops Santa Fe for conference win
The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team defeated Santa Fe College to remain unbeaten in the Central Conference Saturday.
The Titans, who are now 17-5 and 7-0 in the conference, beat Santa Fe 86-79 in a game shown live on WEFS-TV at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.
Up one five minutes into the contest, the Titans outscored the Saints 12-2 to take a 24-13 lead. The lead reached 14 points on an Andres Burney basket and he was fouled. Burney stepped up to the free-throw line and completed the three-point play for the 30-16 lead.
They would head into halftime with a six-point lead, 42-36. The men's basketball program recognized the 2012-13 men's basketball team who won the program's first conference title in 13 seasons.
The game would get close down the stretch as Kordell Brown hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 remaining to cut the Titans lead to two, 81-79. But Caleb Byrd came up big down the stretch, hitting a basket and then made three of the four free throws in the final 41 seconds of the game.
The win was the eighth straight for the Titans who are ranked 24th in the nation.
Byrd finished with 26 points while Burney had 23 points and eight rebounds. Teammate Owen Aquino finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Brown finished with 22 points while Nigel Martin had 17 for the Saints.
Eastern Florida State College will travel to Daytona State College for a matchup of the top two teams in the conference Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday the Titans will host St. Petersburg College in a conference game that will be shown live on WEFS-TV.
