Last Time Out:
The Manatees came off of winning the Suncoast Conference Tournament after defeating St. Pete College 90-75 in the semifinals before defeating Polk State in the finals by a score of 92-74. It was the second consecutive season that the Manatees made it to the state tournament and the third in 2010s era.
Tournament Breakdown:
The tournament is single elimination with the top two teams in their respected conferences:
#1 FSW (29-1)- Suncoast
SCF (21-11)- Suncoast
#10 Tallahassee (25-5)- Panhandle
RV Gulf Coast State (21-7)- Panhandle
#18 Central Florida (24-6)- Mid-Florida
Eastern Florida (21-10)- Mid-Florida
RV Indian River State (22-7)- Southern
Broward (17-9)- Southern
The winner between SCF and #10 TCC will play the winner between RV Indian River or Eastern Florida in the semifinals. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas as a representative for NJCAA Region 8.
#1 FSW is the highest seed in the tournament and ranked #1 in the nation, but say for example, they lose in the semifinals of the tournament against CCF or Broward, then what would happen? Well regardless if they win or lose the tournament, FSW will end up in the national tournament as an at-large bid. In fact, #10 Tallahassee and #18 Central Florida could be listed as at-large bids too based on their rankings.
Defending the NJCAA National Championship this year is Vincennes (24-4) from NJCAA Region 4/Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC). Vincennes, who is currently ranked #12 in the nation and then ranked #8 in the nation, won the 2019 NJCAA National Championship after defeating NJCAA Region 5/North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) Ranger (now #3) 87-77.
Bracket Layout:
All four games will be on Wednesday in order:
Game One: #18 Central Florida vs Broward @ 2 pm EST/1 pm CST.
Game Two: #1 FSW vs RV Gulf Coast @ 4 pm EST/3 pm CST
Game Three: #10 TCC vs SCF @ 7 pm EST/6 pm CST
Game Four: RV Indian River State vs Eastern Florida @ 9 pm EST/8 pm CST
Suncoast Awards:
Prior to the tournament, the Suncoast Conference presented the yearly awards and team accolades for the players this season.
Suncoast Player of the Year:
The Suncoast Player of the year this year was presented to FSW's sophomore Keon Ellis. Ellis is averaging 18 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Ellis had 12 points and five rebounds in their final conference game vs Polk State.
Suncoast Coach of the Year:
FSW would take Suncoast Coach of the Year as it was won by Eric Murphy. Murphy enters his second season as head coach for the Buccaneers. This was the second straight season Murphy has won Coach of the Year.
All-Suncoast First Team:
Three Manatees were named to the All-Suncoast First team: sophomores D'Moi Hodge and Isiah Dasher and freshman Marshall Kearing. This will be the second straight season that Hodge and Dasher were named to the All-Suncoast First Team.
Hodge is averaging 25.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. The native of Tortola, British Virgin Islands had 36 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two blocks and four steals against Polk State in the championship. Hodge has broken and set two program scoring records for the Manatees as he holds the single season record (794) and career record (1,392). Both records were held by James Life until this year.
Dasher is averaging 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 per game. Dasher nearly had a double-double against Polk State as he finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
In addition, Dasher is 21 points away from joining Hodge on becoming the second Manatee to reach 1,000 points in a career.
Kearing is averaging 11.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Against Polk State, Kearing nearly had a double-double as he finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and six blocks.
Other members that joined Hodge, Dasher and Kearing included the following by teams:
Keon Ellis- Florida Southwestern
Tekorian Smith- Polk State
Jermaine Marshall- Florida Southwestern
Michael Cole- Hillsborough
Clarence Jackson- Polk State
Jalen Finch- Florida Southwestern
Kobie Johnson- St. Petersburg
Bryan Williams- St. Petersburg
De'Lazarus Keys- Florida Southwestern
All-Suncoast Second Team:
Joining the All-Suncoast Second Team is freshman Jordan Clark. Clark is averaging 10.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Clark had nine points, three rebounds and two assists against Polk State.
Other members that joined Clark included the following by teams:
Berrick JeanLouis- Florida Southwestern
Malcolm Stevenson- Polk State
Derrick White Jr.- Hillsborough
Tommie Lewis- Polk State
Teddy Bayi Ba Mandeng- St. Petersburg
Simeon Kirkland- Florida Southwestern
Kerry Richardson- Polk State
Ralph Bissainthe- Florida Southwestern
Damon Davis- St. Petersburg
Terry Roberts- Florida Southwestern
Bernat Vanaclocha Sanchez- Polk State
Big Helps:
Other players that have made a big help on both ends of the floor include sophomores Max Bell-Ramos, Remy Robert II and Christnoff Scarborough.
Bell-Ramos is currently averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Bell-Ramos had six points and five rebounds against Polk State.
Mainly the 3-point specialist, Robert II is averaging 3.9 points and one rebound per game. Robert II contributed with two points, two rebounds and a block against Polk State.
Scarborough is averaging 5.1 points and four rebounds per game despite having only three points against Polk State.
Scouting Tallahassee :
Led by Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year Zach Settembre, The Eagles, who are ranked #10 in the NJCAA Top 25 Poll, were crowned the Panhandle Regular Season Champion after going 9-3 in their conference, thus becoming the #1 team in the Panhandle Conference. In their last season game, the Titans fell to RV Gulf Coast State 108-107 in triple overtime in their last conference game of the season.
Freshman El Ellis leads the team offensively for the Eagles. Ellis is averaging 14.7 points and 4.6 assists per game. Ellis had 21 points and six assists against GCSC before being named Panhandle Player of the Year and a member of the All-Panhandle First Team.
Sophomores Tariq Silver and DeAndre Gholston also play key roles offensively. Silver is averaging 12.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while Gholston is averaging 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Against GCSC, Silver had 23 points and eight rebounds while Gholston had 17 points and seven rebounds. Both Silver was named Panhandle Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-Panhandle First Team while Gholston was named to the All-Panhandle Second Team.
Sophomores Eric Hester, Kailex Stephens, Jordan Guest and Rifen Miguel also play big roles and were named on both Panhandle Conference Teams (Hester: First Team; Stephens, Guest and Miguel: Second Team).
Hester is averaging 9.4 points and two assists per game despite only scoring five points with two assists against GCSC.
Stephens averages eight points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Stephens had eight points and seven rebounds against GCSC.
Guest is averaging 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Guest had 18 points and six rebounds against GCSC.
Miguel averages 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game despite not playing against GCSC.
Series History (2012-present):
The Manatees are 0-4 against the Eagles. Last time both teams met was on December 13, 2014 where the Manatees fell 87-60 in Tallahassee.
How to Keep Up:
The game will be featured livestream on Emerald Coast TV YouTube page. The game is free to watch for all fans. Fans can also stay up to date with both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball
TCC: @TCCEagles
Livestream Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoal4TkWkrxNaqaANYXAb3A
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