SCF Closes 2019 at Josh Artis Classic

The SCF basketball team (12-4) will close out 2019 with one final two-day tournament on neutral grounds as they will compete in the Josh Artis Classic Friday and Saturday afternoon, December 28-29 at the Titan Field House in Melbourne, hosted by Eastern Florida State. The Manatees will face Palm Beach State (8-7) and Coastal Alabama-North (0-12) but will not face EFSC (9-6). The game against PBSC will be at 4 pm and the game against CA-North will be at 3 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees competed in their second to last two-day tournament last weekend as they compete in the Florida College's Men's Basketball Shootout in Ocala where they defeated ASA Miami 107-101 and Florida State College at Jacksonville 75-72.

Moving in the Ranks:
While they have not received votes in the NJCAA National Polls, the Manatees reached the Top 10 in the NJCAA Region 8 Polls, beginning at number 10. This week, the Manatees moved up two spots as they are tied at #8 with Northwest Florida State.

Reaching 1,000:
Sophomore D'Moi Hodge did his unthinkable at the JUCO Shootout as he reached 1,000 career points during the game against FSCJ and now has 1,014 in his career. It was a feat last accomplished by James Life, who had a total of 1,341 career points with the Manatees (then Lancers, 2004-05).

An upcoming transfer to Cleveland State, Hodge is averaging 27.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Hodge had 41 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, five steals and two blocks against ASA Miami and 19 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block against FSCJ.

At the end of the tournament, Hodge was named NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week for the fifth time this season as well as the NJCAA National Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Following Along:
Aside from Hodge, classmate Isiah Dasher is also on path of reaching 1,000 career points himself as he has 771 career points and needs 229 more to become the second active Manatee to reach 1,000 career points this season. Dasher is averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. At the JUCO Shootout, Dasher was held to a season-low seven points while adding five rebounds and four assists against ASA Miami before scoring 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Aside from Hodge and Dasher, freshmen Jordan Clark, Marshall Kearing and redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon continue to blaze the path to back up the Manatees.

Despite being held to three points and an assist against FSCJ, Clark is averaging 13.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Clark did have a season-high 27 points and eight rebounds against ASA Miami.

Kearing is averaging 10.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Kearing had a season-high 20 points and four rebounds against ASA Miami and 12 points, three rebounds and one block against FSCJ.

McCutcheon is averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 assists per game, which included a season-high 10 assists against ASA Miami to go along with six points before going scoreless against FSCJ while adding four assists.

The Baton Rouge Hero:
Sophomore Remy Robert II has been a hero for the Manatees in quite a few games, not just as a 3-point specialist but as a strong defender too. Averaging 3.7 points per game, Robert had six points against FSCJ that were both 3-pointers in which one of them was the game-winner.

Wild Cards:
Redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones, sophomores Chris Scarborough and Max Bell-Ramos and freshmen  Sam Grayson and Michael Gavin continue their strong roles as wild cards on the team.

Jones is averaging 5.1 points per game. Jones had four points and two rebounds against ASA Miami and 11 points and two rebounds against FSCJ.

Scarborough is averaging 3.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while Bell-Ramos averages 4.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Scarborough had one rebound in the JUCO Shootout against ASA Miami, while Bell-Ramos had two points and two rebounds against FSCJ.

Grayson averages 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. At the JUCO Shootout, Grayson had two points and three rebounds against ASA Miami and six points and one rebound against FSCJ

Gavin is averaging 5.5 points per game with a .395 3-point percentage. Gavin had one rebound in the game against ASA Miami.

Scouting PBSC:
The Panthers recently competed in the same JUCO shootout with SCF this past weekend losing both games to #5 FSW (76-52) and RV Central Florida (86-59).

Five players on the Panthers are averaging over 12 points. Sophomore Nick Edwards leads the pack averaging 15.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. Edwards was held to nine points and four assists before scoring 18 points and adding eight assists.

Redshirt sophomore Tim Holland follows averaging a double of 13.9 points and 11 rebounds per game along with 2.6 blocks per game. Holland had six points, 15 rebounds and three blocks against FSW but was held scoreless and with one rebound against CCF.

Redshirt sophomore Emanuel Hylton averages 12.4 points and five rebounds per game, despite playing only eight games so far. Hylton had

Sophomores Donald Green and Mohamed Fofana follow averaging 12.9 and 11.9 points and per game respectively. Green averages 6.2 rebounds per game, while Fofana averages 5.9 rebounds per game. Green had nine points and four rebounds against FSW and 12 points and four rebounds against CCF, while Fofana had 12 points and five rebounds against FSW before being held to two points and five rebounds against CCF.

As noted in the season opening preview, the Panthers have nine transfers on their team, Edwards (Northwest Mississippi), Hylton (San Diego), Green (Chattanooga State), Fofana (Butler CC), Holland (Temple College), and sophomores Phillip Smith (FIU), David Begic (Maine), Shawn Cornelious (Blinn College) and Matthew Allman (Richard Bland College).

Scouting Coastal Alabama-North:
Coastal Alabama-North represents NJCAA Region 22 (Alabama Community College Conference) and are located in Monroeville, Alabama. The team is led by head coach William Brown.

The Eagles are coming off of competing against Northwestern Florida State losing by a score of 79-54. It was the third time they faced NWFS and will face them one more time on their schedule (Dec. 31) at the Gulf Coast Classic. In fact, the Eagles 12 straight losses were all against Florida teams.

Freshman Roy Jones III leads the team averaging 13.5 points, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals, while classmate Jarrett Taylor averages 10.5 points and two assists per game.

Their lone sophomore, Shamon Mosley, is averaging 10 points and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds per game.

Series History (2012-present):
While this will be the first time the Manatees play Coastal Alabama-North, they are currently 1-8 overall against the Panthers. The Manatees earned their first win against the Panthers in their season opener winning by a score of 96-86. The Panthers last win over the Manatees was on November 22, 2017 where they won 80-73 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium.

How to Keep Up:
Fans can keep up to date with all three teams on Twitter:
SCF- @SCF_Basketball
PBSC- @PBSCPanthers
Coastal Alabama-North: @CoastalEagles