EFSC Basketball Victory Extends Winning Streak To 21
By Space Coast Daily // November 28, 2013
EFSC Defeated State College of Florida 92-66
ABOVE VIDEO: The Eastern Florida State College men’s basketball team is a member of the NJCAA. The Titans won the Florida College System Activities Association Southern Conference championship last season.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Eastern Florida State College’s men’s basketball team broke open a tight game with a second-half surge to defeat State College of Florida 92-66 on Monday in the Melbourne Campus gym.
The victory, the 21st straight at home for the Titans, was their fifth straight this season and improved their record to 6-1 heading into the Thanksgiving break.
Freshman T.J. Cromer led Eastern Florida with 19 points while sophomore Mike Kirkland added 18 including two layups off fast breaks that extended a 74-59 Eastern Florida lead to 78-59. Kirkland’s final bucket of the night at the 3-minute, 50-second mark made the score 83-59 and put the game out of reach.
FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FELL 0 – 9
State College of Florida led early 6-1 and the game went back and forth until Eastern Florida closed the first half with a 17-13 finish for a 41-36 lead at the break.
The lead was 55-50 with 14:25 to play when Eastern Florida started to pull away. The lead grew to 71-57 on two Kirkland free throws at the 6:37 mark and ignited a Titans run over the next four minutes that pushed things to 88-59.
STRIVING TO GET BETTER
“I wanted it bad, especially getting into the Thanksgiving break,” said Kirkland. “We were ready, we were pumped up and we knew we had to get it done.
“We’ve always got room for improvement. We definitely want to peak at the right time. It’s not (Southern) conference season yet. We’re just striving to get better. We’re going to keep getting better. We came in focused and did what we had to do.”
Sophomore Shaheed Davis added to the Titans cause with four blocked shots.
Emanuel Pellot led State College of Florida with 19 points while Deonte Hearns added 18.
Eastern Florida resumes play on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at State College of Florida. Its next home games are 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 against Cape Fear (NC) and 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 against Florida State College Jacksonville.
Cape Fear plays Palm Beach State College at 1 p.m. Dec. 6. Admission to all the games is free.
