2nd Herd Claims Suncoast Opener vs Polk State

The SCF basketball team (15-4, 1-0 Suncoast) opened Suncoast Conference play with a nail-biting 78-72 win over RV Polk State (11-5, 0-1 Suncoast). With the win, the Manatees are now 12-16 against the Eagles. Last season, the Manatees fell to Polk in the opening Suncoast conference game

"It was really nice to get the win and it was a lot better than starting conference 0-1 like we did last year," said head coach Tom Parks. "It was also nice that we were able to play a home game and I know the home games are not quite the atmosphere they are when everyone is coming back on campus, but I'm really thankful for everyone who came out and supported us. Polk was down a few guys, but their really scrappy and are a good team with or without those guys. Obviously, they are probably better with them but they are a good team and Brandon Giles is a really good coach and gets them to play super hard. they're scrappy, they rebound, they're skilled and athletic."

"We knew it was going to be a tough game and we circled that on our calendar for a good while and so now it's here and we were fortunate to come out on top."

Four Manatees scored in double figures. It was sophomore D'Moi Hodge that led the Manatees offensively. Despite being three rebounds and two assists shy of a triple-double, Hodge finished with 27 points (10-for-19 FG, 5-for-11 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), seven rebounds, eight assists and one block.

"For D'Moi, he played ok, but to everyone else in the country, they'd be happy because he scored 27 points," said Parks on Hodge. "I can tell D'Moi wasn't super excited on how he play, but he was excited for the win even when he took the fall in the second half and wasn't the same when he came back in. We were fortunate that they fouled him at the 3-point line, but D'Moi did what he needed to do down the stretch, he was the person that really helped us start on the right foot with three straight 3-pointers to start the game, which was good."

Classmate Isiah Dasher followed Hodge with 15 points (6-for-17 FG, 3-for-5 FT), three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

"I give it all to the team," said Dasher on his performance. "They put me in the right positions to play, the coaches draw a play for me whenever I'm slow and lacking on offense and I just want to go out there and do whatever I can for the team."

"Zay is still trying to figure out in terms of the pace he needs to play in," said Parks on Dasher.

Freshman Jordan Clark finished with 13 points (5-for-12 FG 3-for-4 FT), two rebounds, three assists and a steal.

"Jordan is very savy and he's done so many things for the team," said Parks on Clark.

Redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon rounded out the order with 10 points (3-for-8 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), three rebounds and four assists.

Defensively, freshman Marshall Kearing had a season-high 17 rebounds and season-high seven blocks to go along with eight points (3-for-7 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and five steals.

"Marshall contested everything and fought," said Parks on Kearing. "He played 20 minutes in the second half and it was the second time I ever did that with him this year, but he was making big plays, blocking shots, rebounding and throwing unbelievable outlet passes."

Sophomores Remy Robert (two points, one assist and two steals) and Max Bell-Ramos (one steal), redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones (one rebound) and freshmen Michael Gavin (three points, one rebound and one steal) and Sam Grayson (one rebound) all contributed in the game.

"Remy stepped up and did some good things to go with the layup he made during the stretch and Mike (Gavin) came in with a three in first half. I think the guys are starting to buy into their roles," said Parks on Robert II and Gavin.

The Eagles had five players that were inactive and unable to play against SCF: Tekorian "TK" Smith, Janiel Romer Rosario, Kameron Pauldo, Malcolm Stevenson and Nikc Merriweather. Freshman Clarence Jackson led the Eagles offensively as he finished with 26 points. Sophomores Kerry Richardson and Bernat Vanaclocha Sanchez rounded out the Eagles lineup in double digit scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively.

The game opened up in favor of the Manatees as McCutcheon scored the first five points of the game with a 3-pointer 10 seconds in and a layup 30 seconds later before sophomore Kerry Richardson put the Eagles on the board with their first basket. A steal by Kearing that led to a Dasher layup to make it 7-2 SCF before Polk called a timeout.

After the timeout, Polk got their second basket from a layup by sophomore Derrick "DJ" Molden before Hodge hit three straight 3-pointers to make it 16-8 SCF with 16:47 left in the first half.

For the next four minutes, both teams were continued to miss several shots after Hodge's last 3-pointer until Kearing grabbed an offensive board and made a mid-range shot with 12:37 left in the first half, which was followed by a Hodge layup 44 seconds later to make it 20-8 SCF. Eventually, Vanaclocha Sanchez got the Eagles on the board for double digits with a hook shot to make it 20-11 with 11 minutes remaining. The Manatees would answer with a layup by Clark and a dunk by Hodge to make it 24-11 SCF, but two straight shots by Vanaclocha Sanchez made it 24-15 SCF before freshman Tommie Lewis took it coast-to-coast with a steal and dunk made it 24-17 SCF. After Kearing went 1-for-2 at the free throw line, freshman VannAubrey Thomas would answer with a 3-pointer with 6:36 left on the clock which was then followed by a Jackson put back one minute later before cutting the Manatees lead to one after a dunk by Lewis before SCF called a timeout.

After Gavin hit a 3-pointer after the timeout, Jackson would hit a layup to tie the game at 28 apiece before Lewis gave the Eagles their first lead with a layup with 2:52 left. After Dasher retied the game at 30 apiece with a layup, the Eagles took the last four points from two free throw shots by Jackson and a fadeaway shot by freshman DayRon Garrett made it 34-30 Polk at the end of the first half.

At the start of the second half, Dasher would get the first basket before missing the free throw after drawing the foul before Jackson answered back with a floater of his own.

A Kearing steal and assist to an open Clark for a layup before freshman Wilton Storr continued to keep Polk State's four-point lead until a Hodge 3-pointer cut Polk State's lead to one before Vanaclocha Sanchez extended the lead to three. Dasher would then cut the lead to one with a dunk before Richardson answered back with a dunk of his own before McCutcheon tied the game at 42 apiece with a 3-pointer before timeout.

A careless turnover by Storr led to a Clark layup and giving the Manatees their first lead of the half before Dasher extended the Manatees lead to four with a layup of his own. A Hodge 3-pointer extend the Manatees lead to 49-44 with 14 minutes left before another timeout was burned. After a Storr layup after the timeout cut the Manatees' lead to three, Clark shot 1-of-2 at the free throw after drawing a foul before Kearing made a putback shot off of a Hodge 3-point attempt.

With less than nine minutes remaining in the game, Jackson would shoot a 3-pointer and cut the Manatees lead to two before Dasher went 1-of-2 at the free throw to keep the Manatees' lead. Jackson would then tie the game at 59 apiece with a 3-pointer with 7:30 left before Dasher and Clark extended the lead to four with 6:52 left.

At the six minute mark, a scare occurred for the Manatees. As Hodge secured the rebound, he attempted to go coast-to-coast for a dunk until Jackson caused and Hodge fell hard on his back for several minutes before heading to the back to be attended to and checked out. While Hodge was getting checked out, Kearing was chosen to shoot Hodge's two free throws as he made one of two.

With Hodge out, the Manatees lead was starting to dwindle away even while they were trying to hold on with four minutes remaining. As Clark drew the foul and was sent to the free throw line to make two successful free throws, Hodge came back and subbed back in for Robert II.

"Whenever D'Moi is down, we always lock back in," said Dasher on Hodge returning. "We wanted to do it for him after that and we locked in together as a team."

Despite Hodge returning, the Manatees dropped to a tie at 68 apiece after a three by Richardson.  Vanaclocha Sanchez would then give the Eagles a 72-68 lead after back-to-back baskets, yet when McCutcheon drew the foul to cut the Eagles lead to two after two successful free throws with two minutes left. A steal by Kearing led to a successful Hodge layup with an assist from Dasher to tie the game at 72 apiece.

with 24.2 seconds remaining in the game, Hodge drew a foul at the 3-point line and was able to shoot two-of-three of his free throws for a 74-72 SCF lead. After that, the Manatees took advantage of a Lewis turnover as he was trying to pass the ball to no avail.

"The turning point of the game was us just getting stops and stopping the runs," said Hodge on the Manatees' turning point. "Once we started stopping their (Polk State) runs from happening, we're good to go. Those are our main points when we're on the court: get the stop, push the ball out fast and get points."

After Dasher drew a foul and scored two successful free throws with 15 seconds left, the Manatees took control of one final possession from a Robert steal and pass to Hodge for another thunderous dunk to seal the deal and get the Manatees the win.

"It feels good to get the win," said Hodge on the win. "Last year when we opened up with Polk State, we lost to them by 20 points, so it was a good win but I think we need to get better now that we're in conference play. We didn't play as good as we wanted to, we started off good but we didn't play to our best ability though so I feel we got more to learn and grow on this game come Monday's practice so we come back better and harder."

"Polk is a really tough team and are the better teams in the conference," said Dasher on the game. "Every game in our conference is a really tough game, so it's going to be like that for the rest of the season and we know, as sophomores, me, D'Moi and all the older guys, so we know we got to come in every game playing our hardest and it's going to be a dog fight for the rest of the season."

Notes:
Dasher's 15 points put him at 819 in his career and needs 181 to become the second active Manatee to reach 1,000 career points.

"I feel like it's a good milestone to reach and a goal to have this season," said Dasher on the milestone. "But it's a bigger picture and we want to get the better wins, so it's a plus to have it and a plus to win and it will be a really cool thing for me and D'Moi to reach 1,000 career points on the same team in the same season."

"I don't think I ever had two 1,000 point scorers in junior college at the same time, so it's kind of unheard of," said Parks on Dasher attempt to 1,000 points. "If there's anyone that can do it, then it would be D'Moi and Isiah. It's too bad D'Moi can't lend some point to Isiah in the event that he comes up short, but it's really cool and either way, whether he makes or not, he's still one of the best scorers in the state and in the country."

"Zay (Dasher) has been forcing a little too much. He's trying to do a little too much because he putting pressure on himself because he's a sophomore. He just needs to let the game come to him a little more and get back to that freshman mentality of 'I'm just going to come here and do my job and if I'm open, I'll shoot and if not I'll pass.' I'm not gonna put expectations in his head of 'I need to score this many and average this many'. He just needs to get back into it."

Hodge's 27 points push him to 1,086 in his career. In order to surpass James Life's scoring records, He needs 275 points to pass Life's single season record (762) and 256 points to earn the all-time scoring record.

Other Suncoast Scores:
RV Polk State played #22 Central Florida on New Years Day at home prior to playing SCF, losing by a score of 95-75. The Eagles will be back in action Tuesday night, January 7 as they welcome 4A Sports Academy to the Winter Haven Health Center.

#3 FSW (17-1, 1-0 Suncoast) opened their part of Suncoast play with a 92-77 win over St. Pete (9-9, 0-1 Suncoast). The Buccaneers will face Hillsborough Wednesday, January 8 at 7 pm.

Hillsborough (8-7) were scheduled to play Miami Dade and Indian River for two final home games before Suncoast play, but during the game against MDC, the game was cancelled with 10:32 left in the second half due to no A/C and the floor being in an unplayable condition. To play it safe, the following game against Indian River was also cancelled due to the unplayable condition.

Suncoast Standings:
1. FSW (17-1, 1-0 Suncoast)
2. SCF (15-4, 1-0 Suncoast)
3. Polk State (11-5, 0-1 Suncoast)
4. Hillsborough (8-7, 0-0 Suncoast)
5. St. Pete (9-9, 0-1 Suncoast)

Scores in the FCSAA:
#22 Central Florida (16-3, 1-0 Mid-Florida) defeated Santa Fe (7-9, 0-1 Mid-Florida) 84-83. The Patriots will face Eastern Florida State Wednesday night, January 8 at 7 pm. The Saints will play the Daytona State Falcons Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm.

Daytona State (11-6) defeated ASA Miami (4-12) 85-81. The Silver Storm will face RV Miami Dade (12-4) Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm to open Southern Conference play.

Florida State College at Jacksonville (5-10, 1-0 Mid-Florida) defeated Eastern Florida State (11-7, 0-1 Mid-Florida) 60-59 to open their part of conference play. The Blue Wave will face #22 CCF Saturday afternoon, January 11 at 4 pm, while the Titans play #22 CCF Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm

Indian River State (11-6) defeated Florida National JV (NAIA/USCAA) 117-84. The Pioneers will face Palm Beach State (8-9) Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm.

Broward College (9-4) defeated Game Changers Academy 123-77. The Seahawks will face Victory Rock Prep Tuesday night, January 7 at 7 pm.

#12 Tallahassee CC (17-2, 1-0 Panhandle) defeated the Chipola College Indians 73-71. The Eagles will face Northwestern Florida State Raiders Saturday night, January 11 at 8:30 pm.

RV Gulf Coast State (13-3, 1-0 Panhandle) defeated Northwestern Florida State 85-82 in double overtime. The Commodores will face the Pensacola State Pirates (11-6) Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm.

Chipola College (12-5, 0-1 Panhandle) will face Northwest Florida State (12-5, 0-1 Panhandle) Wednesday night, January 8 at 7:30 pm.

Florida Gateway (7-9) will face Webber International's JV team (NAIA) Wednesday night, January 8 at 7 pm.

Pasco-Hernando State (2-10) will face Oxford College of Emory University (5-7) Friday night, January 10 at 7 pm.

Up Next:
The Manatees will take their moment of Suncoast on the road as they travel to St. Petersburg to take on St. Pete College Wednesday night, January 8 at 7 pm.