BCC Enters Crucial Stretch In Basketball

By  //  February 8, 2013

TItans Aim For Weekend Victories

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Never in this 2012-2013 season has winning been as vital as it is now for Brevard Community College’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

BCC men’s basketball coach Jeremy Shulman is hoping his team can gain a postseason playoff bid . (Image courtesy of BCC)

The men, losers of two of their last three Florida College System Activities Association Southern Conference games, now must win their remaining four to have a shot at earning the automatic bid to the FCSAA state tournament.

The women, losers of 20 straight, want to end that streak and earn a conference victory before concluding their season on Feb. 23 at Miami Dade.

For the men the final four run begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce. First-place Palm Beach State College, which leads second-place BCC by a game, comes calling at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Melbourne Campus gym. BCC then travels to Miami Dade at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 before ending the regular season by hosting Broward College at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 for Sophomore Night.

Admission to BCC home games is free.

BCC has beaten Indian River and Miami Dade twice each while trading home court victories with Palm Beach and Broward.

Titans head coach Jeremy Shulman certainly would prefer earning the automatic state tournament bid rather than having to play the Feb. 25-26 conference tournament in which it will face a conference foe or foes for the fourth time this season.

One team emerges from the three-team conference tournament to advance to the state tournament.

BCC is 20-6 overall and 6-2 in the conference. And even though it has won 20 games for the second straight season since 1998-2000, the pressure is now on.

“Our backs are now against the wall,” Shulman said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our guys respond. We have been resilient all year and I hope that trend continues starting with a rivalry game against a very goo Indian River State team on the road on Saturday.”

For BCC head women’s coach Renee Bellamy, her teams’ victory quest continues at 2 p.m. Saturday as it hosts Broward College. BCC then travels to play conference-leading St. Petersburg College at 6 p.m. Tuesday, hosts Indian River at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 and hosts Palm Beach at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 for Sophomore Night before finishing at Miami.

BCC is 2-23 overall and 0-10 in the conference.