2nd Herd Gets First Season Sweep over PHSC

The SCF basketball team (5-2) pulled away with their first sweep of the season as they defeated Pasco-Hernando State (0-7) 121-60. With the win, the Manatees are now 10-5 against the Bobcats (2012-present). The 121 points for the Manatees was the third-highest scoring win in program history and the highest scoring win since December 16, 2017.

"I'm pretty happy with our guys tonight," said head coach Tom Parks. "I think these games are always really tough to play because you have success against the opponent the first time and it's on the road, so you were you're gonna get a home crowd and it's really easy to underestimate people and I really don't think our guys underestimated them, I thought the effort was really good."

"There's been some specific things we've been working on both offensively and defensively over the past week and a half and I thought we put some of that to use tonight so it was really good to see and we talked about how the process was so much important now that the opponent didn't really matter how we had to keep getting better because we had a very tough schedule and so we really wanted to make sure that we're trending upward in the right direction in that sort of way."

Five Manatees finished with double digit scoring. It was the sophomore duo of D'Moi Hodge and Isiah Dasher and freshman Marshall Kearing that took over the Manatees offensively as all three finished with a double-double each.

Hodge finished with a double-double of 35 points (13-for-24 FG, 3-for-9 3PT, 6-for-6 FT) and 18 rebounds. In fact, Hodge was three assists shy of a triple-double as he finished with seven assists, two steals and team-leading six blocks.

Dasher had a double-double of 18 points (6-for-9 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 4-for-4 FT) and 11 rebounds, five assists and one steal.

Kearing, who earned his first collegiate double-double, had 13 points (6-for-8 FG, 1-for-2 FT) and 10 rebounds to go along with two assists and a season-high five blocks.

Freshman Jordan Clark finished with 17 points (5-for-8 FG, 5-for-8 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while classmate Michael Gavin rounded out the double digit scoring with a season-high 11 points (2-for-7 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 3-for-3 FT), a rebound, an assist and a steal.

The main story was the debuts of redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones and freshman Sam Grayson, who both had a standing ovation from the fans. Jones, who sat out the whole 2018-19 season finished with eight points (2-for-6 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), two rebounds and three assists, while Grayson, who was battling through injuries and sickness, finished with four points, three rebounds and a steal.

"It's been a full year while dealing with a suspension, but it felt great to be back on the court," said Jones on his debut. "I've been trying to get back in it since high school, so it felt great to be back with my team and the teammates I played with from last year in practice."

"The game overall was better because a lot of stuff went our way with easy shots, steals and lookouts," said Jones on the game. "I did pretty good, I made a couple of big shots. I just got to keep playing more to get in the rhythm."

"Coming back from an MCL knee injury, the jitters were there and I was a bit nervous at the start," said Grayson on his debut. "But as soon as I got on the court, they slightly got away and I feel like I just needed a bit of time to get use to it, but after that I felt great. I just play basketball and that's what I do."

"Jaylen redshirted the entire year and we've been really anxious to get him on the floor,” said Parks on Jones' debut. “He's a very liked individual as you can tell by the reaction from the crowd when he went into the game and after making his first shot and it's really cool because he was a local kid where he and Jordan (Clark) played at Booker High School. It's always cool to have a local product have this success that both of these guys are having. Jaylen is a very dynamic player scoring and passing wise and is a lot different from Calvin (McCutcheon) and it was really cool to actually see the two different styles of point guards and understand we need more run in the team with Calvin for more scoring on that spot than Jaylen."

"Sam (Grayson) is a name that everyone is gonna appreciate more and more," said Parks on Grayson's debut. "He's been injured or sick on and off the last six months and we started to get him back from minor injuries, but the problem is Sam plays at one speed and it's hard as he can possibly play at 100 miles per hour and when you're out of shape and doing that, you can tend to get injured just like tonight when he got injured getting cut on his head. All-in-all, he's nasty in a good way, he's physical while throwing his body around and doesn't care who the opponent is. He's an unbelievable kid and an unbelievable team and it's really nice to have him back on the floor."

"It was incredible for everyone to cheer for me and Jaylen (Jones) as soon as we stepped on the court because it was my first college game," said Grayson on the support. "We both got a big round of applause from a big crowd tonight, one that we haven't had in a while so that was really good."

"It felt great that everyone showed a lot of support by coming," said Jones on the support. "It was just like high school because I had a lot of support, it felt good and there was nothing more I could ask for than that."

Redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon (seven points, one rebound and five assists), sophomores Remy Robert II (three points, two rebounds and one assist), Max Bell-Ramos (two points, three rebounds and one assist) and Christnoff Scarborough (two rebounds and one steal) and freshman Jaquan Ferrol (three points, six rebounds, an assist and two blocks) also made big contributions for the Manatees.

Freshman Tyler Perry led the Panthers with 16 points and five rebounds while being issued a technical foul in the second half. Classmate Nemuel Robinson had 10 points off the bench.

Other Suncoast Scores:
#2 FSW (7-0) competed in two days in Americus, Georgia on the weekend defeating NJCAA Region 4 Triton College 88-83 before defeating NJCAA Region 10 Wake Technical Community College by a score of 89-58. The Buccaneers will return home for the two-day weekend as they welcome NJCAA Region 18 Snow College (11/22) and NJCAA Region 10 Denmark Tech College (11/23).

RV Polk State (5-0) defeated Indian River State 100-80 Friday night. They will remain at home to host the two-day Josh Giles Memorial Classic and welcome Florida State College at Jacksonville and Chipola College (11/22-11/23).

Hillsborough (4-3) fell this past weekend on the road losing to Miami Dade (88-72) and Broward College (78-70). They will remain on the road as they travel to Gainsville to take on Santa Fe College Wednesday night, November 20.

St. Pete College (2-5) fell Monday night on the road against CCF losing by a score of 77-62. The Titans will remain on the road as they travel to Miami to take on Miami Dade.

Up Next:
The Manatees will be back on neutral grounds as they travel to Fort Myers to compete in the two-day Florida Southwestern Classic hosted by FSW (November 22-23). They will face Denmark Technical College (0-4) on Friday, November 22 before facing Snow College (3-4) Saturday, November 23. Both games times are to be determined.