There are any number of reasons why Saturday’s women’s and men’s Titans Field House basketball games against Miami Dade College are important. (EFSC Image)
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – There are any number of reasons why Saturday’s women’s and men’s Titans Field House basketball games against Miami Dade College are important.
● The women, 7-1 and in first place in the Florida College System Activities Association Southern Conference, are seeking to take another step toward a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 tournament for the first time since 2003.
● The men, 4-2 and tied for second in the conference, are seeking to get back into the thick of things as the race toward the tournament tightens. Eastern Florida is the two-time defending conference champion.
● The women, 16-6 overall, are seeking to extend their home court winning streak to 10 games.
● The men, 21-3 overall, are seeking to extend their home court winning streak to 45 games.
● The women’s game tips off at 2 p.m. and will be carried live on WEFS-TV and streamed live at njcaatv.com/efsc
● The men’s game tips off at 4 pm. It is Armed Forces Day recognizing the Armed Forces as well as those who help make our country safe. Admission to both games is free.
Eastern Florida’s women defeated Miami Dade 80-68 on Jan. 10 in Kendall in their first of three conference games this season. Conversely, Eastern Florida’s men suffered their first conference loss of the season at Miami Dade, falling 65-62 on Jan. 17.
Miami Dade’s women, St. Petersburg College and Palm Beach State College are 5-3 and tied for second place behind Eastern Florida’s women in the conference standings.
The women’s game tips off at 2 p.m. (EFSC Image)
The women’s teams play each other three times each – 15 games – to determine which three of the six teams move on to the postseason tournament.
Indian River is 2-6 but has beaten St. Petersburg. Broward is 0-8. Eastern Florida’s lone loss was to St. Petersburg.
On the men’s side Eastern Florida is tied with Broward while Miami Dade is first at 5-1 after beating Broward 101-78 on Wednesday. Palm Beach State is fourth at 3-4 but dangerous and perfectly capable of making a run. Indian River State is 0-7.
The men’s team play each three times each – 12 games – to determine which two advance to the postseason.
Men’s head coach Jeremy Shulman realizes the importance of his team’s game.
Jeremy Shulman
“Saturday will be a big-time game between two great teams,” said Head Coach Jeremy Shulman.
“Though Saturday will be important, the most important thing is for us to get back to playing with consistent levels of energy and effort especially on the defensive end and on the boards.
“I’m excited to see how my guys respond from the adversity of losing at Palm Beach State on Monday night.”
For women’s head coach Jim Grimes Saturday’s game marks another step in what has been a season of progress.
“Twenty-two games into our 29-game season we have seen improvement,” he said. “Over these next seven games we need to see more. Games in this conference are as tough as they come and records mean nothing when used as a head-to-head predictor.”
“When the season began I set our primary goal as improving with each game and letting the results fall where they may.”
“Obviously to date the results have been in our favor but we are far from where we need to be as a team. And with tough, improving and hungry Miami Dade coming in on Saturday we have no margin for error.”
“They would love nothing more than to knock us off at home.”
Eastern Florida’s women have exceeded the win total from the last two seasons combined – 10 – and guaranteed themselves their first winning season dating back at least 10 years.
