With Southern Conference-opening victories on Wednesday to their credit Eastern Florida’s women’s and men’s basketball teams now await Saturday visits from conference foes Miami Dade College and Broward College respectively. (EFSC Image)
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – With Southern Conference-opening victories on Wednesday to their credit Eastern Florida’s women’s and men’s basketball teams now await Saturday visits from conference foes Miami Dade College and Broward College respectively.
Eastern Florida’s women defeated host St. Petersburg College 85-65. They welcome Miami Dade at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Titan Field House on the Melbourne Campus. Admission is free.
Miami Dade lost 76-71 at home to Broward. Shatara Jackson scored 29 points for Miami Dade while Jaiveonna Norris scored 23.
Eastern Florida’s men knocked off previously unbeaten, nationally third-ranked and state top-ranked Palm Beach State 74-72 at the buzzer in Lake Worth. They host Broward at 4 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on WEFS-TV and streamed live at www.efsctitans.com
Broward beat visiting Miami Dade 87-83. Broward placed five players in double figures led by Joe Lopez’s 19 points.
Sophomore guard Nene Johnson paced Eastern Florida’s women with 24 points against St. Petersburg. Classmate Crystal Townsend scored 15 points and freshman Kienya Jones contributed 13.
The men played a nip and tuck game with Palm Beach. Freshman guard Kareem Brewton scored the game-winner, going the length of the floor to sink a layup as time expired.
Both Eastern Florida head coaches expect Saturday’s games to be tightly contested as well.
Jeremy Shulman
“It’s the Southern Conference after all,” said men’s head coach Jeremy Shulman whose team is seeking its fourth straight conference championship.
“Every game challenges the players and ages a coaching staff. While the keys are preparation and execution both teams do both. It’s not unusual for the game to be decided on who makes one more play than the opposition.
“The tough part is playing on Wednesday and again on Saturday gives you only one real day – Friday – to on the court. Thursday needs to be a light day to give the players a chance to recover and then Saturday is game day. Practice time is precious.”
Women’s head coach Jim Grimes sees concentration and consistency as key elements in his game preparation.
Jim Grimes
“We haven’t yet put together a full 40 minutes of the type of effort required to be successful day in and day out in conference,” said Grimes, whose team also is the defending champion.
“It’s a given that basketball is a game of runs. They key is to limit the opportunities you give the other team to make a run or two that could decide the game. It’s all about process and principles on offense and defensively.”
Eastern Florida’s women, playing the nation’s toughest schedule according to the Massey Ratings, are 8-7 overall while the men are 13-3. Broward’s men are 10-5 overall while the Miami Dade women are 10-6.
