2nd Herd Closes 2019 with Two Wins

The SCF basketball team (14-4) closed out 2019 with two wins at the Josh Artis Classic as they defeated Palm Beach State (8-8) 94-88 Saturday and Coastal Alabama-North (0-14) 108-85. With the wins, the Manatees are now 2-8 against the Panthers, while going 1-0 in their first matchup against the Eagles.

SCF vs PBSC:
For the game against PBSC, five players scored in double figures with two getting double-doubles. Surprisingly, it was freshman Marshall Kearing that led the Manatees offensively. Kearing finished with a double-double of a season-high 24 points (11-for-12 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and 13 rebounds (11 defensive). The Aussie also added an assist and a block to the mix.

Sophomore D'Moi Hodge finished behind Kearing as the defending NJCAA National Player of the Week had a double-double of 21 points (7-for-14 FG, 3-for-7 3PT, 4-for-5 FT) and 10 assists to go along with six rebounds, while classmate Isiah Dasher had 14 points (6-for-10 FG, 2-for-2 FT), seven assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Freshman Jordan Clark finished with 11 points (3-for-5 FG, 5-for-8 FT), five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones rounded out the order leading off the bench with 12 points (4-for-9 FG, 4-for-8 3PT) and two assists.

Sophomores Max Bell-Ramos (two points and one assist) and Chris Scarborough (one point and one block), redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon (one point, two rebounds and four assists) and freshmen Michael Gavin (eight points and one assist) and Sam Grayson (one assist) also contributed in the Manatee's win.

SCF vs Coastal Alabama-North:
Hodge, who was two assists and four rebounds shy of a triple-double, led the Manatees against the Eagles as he finished with 24 points (10-for-20 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 3-for-5 FT), six rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Dasher finished with a double-double of 19 points (7-for-13 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 4-for-5 FT) and 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Classmate Remy Robert II rounded out the lineup with 16 points (6-for-9 FG, 4-for-6 3PT) and two rebounds off the bench.

Scarborough and McCutcheon finished with nine points each. Scarborough (3-for-7 FG, 3-for-4 FT), who earned his second start of the season, added five rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal, while McCutcheon (3-for-4 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added two rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Kearing (eight points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks), Grayson (six points and two rebounds), Clark (six points, four assists, one rebound and a block), Gavin (five points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal), Jones (four points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal) and Bell-Ramos (two points) all contributed in the win. In fact, all the players that came off the bench scored.

Lone sophomore Shamon Mosley led the Eagles with 22 points and five rebounds. Freshmen Roy Jones III (18 points, six assists and four rebounds), Chris Lett (13 points and four rebounds) and Demetrius Headspeth (10 points and four rebounds) followed Mosley in double digit scoring.

Notes:
Dasher's 30 combined points put him at 804 and needs 196 to become to reach 1,000 career points and the second active Manatee to do so.

Hodge now has 1,059 career points. The double-double against Palm Beach State was his 10th in his career (third this season).

"We kind of break up into three phases," said head coach Tom Parks on 2019. "Obviously, this year was a little funny because our non-conference was everything before Christmas break plus two games. We had our traditional non-conference game that were before Christmas break and then the two games at the Josh Artis Classic helped us workout some kinks and get in shape. We knew both games were going to be ugly on both accounts. Fortunately, we had a lot more guys healthy and eligible than the other two teams and we were able to wear on them, especially with Coastal Alabama in the second game."

"I was really happy with the guys and just the program in general and I think there's a lot of balance this year and what I mean by that is from a staff standpoint," said Parks on his coaching staff. "Rob (Beckmann) is like a mastermind when it comes to the offense and defense, Nav (Gill) is really good at relating to the players, scouting on picking up new players throughout the game and talk to the guys, Lem (Andrews) is the sweetest man alive and would benefit any organization he would be a part of. Even David (Peck), our student assistant, stepped up for us. He set up the whole gym for us and I didn't even ask him to do it. I think not just from a staff standpoint.

Other Suncoast Scores:
#3 Florida Southwestern (16-1) closed out their part of 2019 as they defeated NJCAA Region 4 Oakton Community College (2-12) 99-65 and NJCAA Region 12 Delta College (5-5) 89-75.

RV Polk State (11-3) defeated FSCJ 87-67 before falling to Pensacola State (10-5) by a score of 101-99 in overtime on day two of the JUCO Shootout (December 14-15) to close out their part of 2019. The Eagles will be back in action at the start of 2020 as they welcome #22 Central Florida (14-3) to the Winter Haven Health Center Wednesday afternoon, January 1 at 3 pm before Suncoast play.

St. Pete College (9-8) fell to Gordon State College (2-3) 64-61 Thursday, December 18 before defeating Central Georgia Technical College (7-6) 62-44 and Shelton State (10-3) 69-65 for their final two games of 2019.

Hillsborough (8-7) defeated Gordon State College 83-73 at the Dale Mabry Campus Gym Wednesday night, December 18 for their last home game of 2019. The Hawks will open 2020 remaining at home welcoming Miami Dade (Dec. 3) and Indian River State (Dec. 4) before Suncoast play.

Up Next:
The Manatees will open 2020 for Suncoast play at home as they welcome Polk State Saturday afternoon, January 4 at 4 pm.