Eastern Florida Men Bounce Back Against Indian River, 79-46
By Mark DeCotis, Athletic Communications // January 22, 2015
Victory moved Eastern Florida to 20-2 overall
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Eastern Florida’s men’s basketball team broke open a tight game with a first-half run that went deep into the second half for a 79-46 victory over Indian River State College on Wednesday in Melbourne.
The Florida College System Activities Association victory moved Eastern Florida to 20-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference and extended its home court winning streak to 43 games.
Indian River fell to 9-11 and 0-5.
Indian River hung with Eastern Florida early, leading 12-10 with 11 minutes and 45 seconds to play in the first half.
Things were knotted at 17-17 with 8:47 to play before Eastern Florida got hot and turned the game around.
The Titans, ranked second in Florida and 12th nationwide, closed the half with a 20-9 run capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the corner by sophomore Demetrius McReynolds that made the score 37-26.
McReynolds opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers for a 43-26 lead and it was academic from there as the Titans held Indian River to 20 second-half points.
McReynolds and classmate Jermohn Queen, who was everywhere on the floor scoring, rebounding, assisting and generally being disruptive defensively, led the Titans with 21 points each.
“I just like to play against the boys that I know,” said Queen who hails from Indian River’s backyard of Stuart.
“I have fun playing with them. It’s always good competition. After the tough loss at Miami (on Saturday) coach (Jeremy Shulman) told us that we had to pick up another gear. That’s what we were doing tonight, trying to make a statement.”
McReynolds credited his teammates.
“I was starting to feel it, my teammates got me the ball,” McReynolds said.
“They told me to start running the floor. My teammates got me going and I just kept on shooting. I was being aggressive, that’s what they were telling me to do.”
As for the victory: “Coach told us to start a new winning streak, turn it around,” McReynolds said. “I think it’s a good start right here.”
Sophomore Kyle Meyer added 11 points for Eastern Florida while freshman Djordje Beronja scored 10.
Things will get much tougher for Eastern Florida in the coming days as first-place Broward College comes calling at 4 p.m.
Saturday followed by a 7 p.m. Monday game at Palm Beach State in Lake Worth.
