4th Herd Set for Challenging Weekend

Bradenton, Fla - After a weekend of upsets and battles, the SCF basketball team (9-3) will split a challenging weekend as they will remain home at Hal Chasey Gymnasium to welcome Daytona State College (5-5) for a rematch Friday night, December 3 at 7 pm before traveling to Gainesville to take on #23 Santa Fe College (8-1) Saturday afternoon, December 4 at 2 pm at the Santa Fe Gymnasium.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of competing and hosting the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic for the last two weekends. In the first half, they traveled to Rome, Georgia for the two-day Dana Davis Classic where they defeated host then RV Georgia Highlands 85-82 before falling to then #4 Chipola College (now #3) by a score of 78-56.

Following the split, the Manatees returned home for the second half of the classic and went 3-0 as they upset then #17 South Georgia Tech (now RV) 103-98 before defeating then RV Georgia Highlands 75-72 and Albany Tech 73-67. As a result, the Manatees were co-champions of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic with then #9 Indian River State (now #7). In fact, SCF and #9 Indian River State were the only team's that were unbeaten in the classic.

In the Polls:

For the first time in years, the Manatees have finally moved up in one of the NJCAA Polls as they were ranked #24 in the NJCAA Men's Basketball Top 25 Media Polls. Additionally, they moved up to #7 in the NJCAA Region 8 Coaches' Poll.

1,000 still Popping:

For James 'Pop' Weathers, he continues his path of reaching 1,000 career points and becoming the second players under the Parks Era to reach the milestone. Weathers has 588 career points and needs 412 for the milestone.

Currently, Weathers is averaging 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. At the Thanksgiving Classic, he had a combined 53 points, 24 rebounds and 14 assists and as a result, he was named the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving All-Classic Team Co-MVP with Indian River State's AJ Cajuste.

Five of a Kind Wild Cards:

Sophomore Clarence Cummings III and freshmen Jacari White, Cobey Harraway, Ametri Moss and Djordje Gobovic have been key benefactors for the depth.

Cummings III is averaging 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and three assists per game. Cummings averaged 9.7 points, six rebounds and four assists during the classic.

White is averaging 10.6 points and four rebounds per game. He averaged 14 points, four and rebounds per game during the classic.

Moss averaged 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in the classic. He is currently averaging 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Additionally, Moss joined Weather on the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving All-Classic Team.

Gobovic, one of the key rebounders and shot blockers is averaging 6.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. At the classic, the Serbian averaged nine points, seven rebounds and 1.7 blocks at the classic.

Additionally, another player that has been making his name heard in the rebounding game is freshman Ronnail Tape. Tape, a native of Ft. Myers, is averaging 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds. At the classic, he averaged 4.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Scouting Daytona State:

The Falcons are coming off of a 86-60 loss to Tallahassee CC Monday night that snapped their three-game winning streak.

Sophomore Johan Crafoord leads the team offensively as the Iona College transfer is averaging 17.6 points and five rebounds per game. Crafoord had 15 points and two rebounds against TCC.

Classmate Reggie Quezada (14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals) and freshman Ky Stattmann (13.5 points and 2.6 rebounds)also play a big role for the Falcons depth. Against TCC, Quezada had seven points, six rebounds and one steal, while Stattmann had nine points and three rebounds.

Scouting Santa Fe:

The Saints, who are ranked #23 in the NJCAA Top 25 Polls, are coming off an 83-55 win over Central Georgia Tech Friday and will play Hillsborough Wednesday night, December 1, prior to playing SCF.

Freshmen Bradley Douglas (15.8 points, four rebounds and 4.9 assists per game) and Hasan Abdul-Hakim (13.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game) lead the path for the Saints on both ends of the floor.

Series History (2011-Present):

The Manatees are currently 1-5 against the Falcons and 4-12 against the Saints. The Manatees earned their first win against the Falcons earlier this season winning by a score of 93-77, while the last time they played the Saints was on November 16 and December 7, 2019 by scores of 101-92 and 84-80.

The game against Daytona State will air on the SCF Sports Network, while the game against Santa Fe will air on the Saints Sports Network.

Links:

SCF vs Daytona State: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

SCF vs Santa Fe: https://www.santafesaints.com/SaintsSportsNetwork

4th Herd Sweeps Thanksgiving Classic

Bradenton, Fla - The Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic comes to a close at Hal Chasey Gymnasium as the SCF basketball team (9-3) finished with a clean sweep after defeating Albany Tech (6-2) 73-67. As a result, the Manatees were named co-champions with #9 Indian River State (10-1), who defeated #17 South Georgia Tech (6-3) 94-82. RV Georgia Highlands (4-5) would upset #7 Eastern Florida State (6-3) 75-70 to wrap up the classic.

“It feels good to go 3-0 against three really good teams,” said head coach Tom Parks. "We wanted to do this classic for many reasons, but I think Georgia was getting sick and tired of hearing how good Florida JUCO basketball is. I think there is some really competitive teams and some of them didn't come to the classic, but I'm really thankful for all the teams that came out in terms of getting those wins."

"The other reason was we wanted to play three games in three days and depending on the year it is, a lot of times in the state tournament you have to win three and three. It gets crazier at the national tournament where you have to win five games in a very short amount of time, depending if you get a bye or not, so we're just trying to do our best to help prepare the guys for a potential postseason run and to be able to have them feel what it's like to play three games in three days, know how to recover, treat your body and do what you have to do to make sure you're ready for the next day and I thought our guys did a really good job at being prepared, studying the scouting reports for a very quick turnaround, so it feels good to end up with three wins in three days."

“It felt good,” said freshman Jacari White. "We had some momentum going in and coming off and it felt great to play as a team. We came out a little slow in the game tonight and we need to try and break that cycle from the last three games, but overall we came back, played defense and we got stops when we needed them to get the win."

“Today's game was a tough one,” said freshman Ametri Moss. "They (Albany Tech) are a good team and we had to come out with intensity, which we did in the second half. We didn't let our foot off the brakes and we just got the victory tonight."

"Out of all the games from the tournament, I was really concerned on this one particularly," said Parks on facing Albany Tech. "I think Albany Tech came in as a team that didn't have much notoriety in recognition or rankings, compared to Georgia Highlands, who was receiving votes in the national polls. Obviously, South Georgia Tech came in as the #17 team in the country. People thought that Albany Tech is an afterthought because if you watch them play for a few possessions the very first game, they're a very good team and very well-coached and you can just tell with certain teams where they're on the same page when we play for each other. Albany Tech is a very selfless team that did things offensively and defensively that showed how together they were and they never stopped playing, so for that game to be the third one, and potentially one of the toughest games we played against a scrappy team that doesn't quit, is always scary, so it felt good to get the win over them."

In the first half, the Manatees got off to a slow start and were constantly battling with lead changes and ties, but after a few changes in plays the Manatees were able to take the first half 34-31.

The second half proved to be much edgier for the Manatees as they battled to keep the lead in their favor and after modifications to their plays and defense, the Manatees were able to seal the deal and claim the sweep.

"It felt good being co-champions, especially when we're hosting it," said Moss. "It's a big accomplishment for us and I feel like it will put us out there when we went 3-0 against the top teams in Georgia, so I felt like it was a great opportunity for us and the program."

Five players scored in double figures for the Manatees. Sophomore James ‘Pop’ Weathers would lead the way with 19 points (5-for-14 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 8-for-10 FT), four rebounds, four assists and one block. White would follow with 15 points (5-for-11 FG, 4-for-8 3PT, 1-for-1 FT), four rebounds and one block off the bench. In fact, White was the only Manatee to score off the bench.

"I just had a lot of confidence tonight," said White on his game. "I just kept shooting and knew my ability to make shots and that's what I did."

"Jacari is a special player and he is very talented," said Parks on White. "He's another freshman that is learning every day, but the beautiful thing about him is he plays such good defense that we need him on the court late in the game to finish games and he's someone who makes mistakes but plays through them and learn from them. He's good as well as he shoots the ball, even though he started off shooting slow and I told him to stick with it and he's being hitting the gym a lot more, but the biggest thing with him is his on-ball defense and defensive intensity is on another level and him and 'Pop' really play well off each other from the defensive end and get each other going, which is really nice compared to last year where we didn't have any elite defenders and Jacari likes taking on that role with a lot of pride, which is really cool."

Freshman Djorde Gobovic and sophomore Clarence Cummings III would each finish with 11 points. Gobovic (5-for-9 FG, 1-for-2 FT) added eight rebounds and one block, while Cummings III added three rebounds, four assists and one steal.

"We still have to keep figuring out way to incorporate Goba offensively," said Parks on Gobovic. "He's similar to Marshall Kearing in a sense of a unique skill set, and as a coach they are different and I have to adjust how to play in order for him to get touches to be successful. He's successful on the block, but he can also do special things on the perimeter and play through some mistakes, but he's a competitor. The thing about Goba is he doesn't care who he plays against. You can bring in the Los Angeles Lakers and he would be fired up and not scared at all with a different mentality about him, so when we play a physically opposing team he gets fired up, which I love, and he gets guys going, he's goofy, fun and plays hard."

Moss would round out the order with 10 points (4-for-10 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 1-for-2 FT), four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.

"I felt like I had a good game, even if I started slow," said Moss on his game. "I picked it up in the second half where my team needs me and that's how it went tonight."

"The thing with Meech is that he is learning so much right now and is getting better every single game," said Parks on Moss. "People don't know how good he is and he is special and works really hard on the defensive end and I can appreciate that. He wasn't always pushed that way in high school and had some bad habits coming in, primarily from the defensive side and he wants to be on the floor and learns as quick as possible so he can more. He went from someone who would finish one game on the season for us in terms of being at the end of the game to finishing the last four for us."

Sophomore Kwo Agwa (two rebounds and one assist) and freshmen Cobey Harraway (eight points, three rebounds, one block and four steals) and Ronnail Tape (five rebounds and one assist) also contributed in the game.

For the Titans, sophomore Jalen Nesmith lead the way offensively with 26 points and five assists and two rebounds, while classmate John Egbuta followed with 15 points and six rebounds and Zeff Felton lead with 12 rebounds and five blocks to go along with six points.

Final Classic Standings:

#9 Indian River State (3-0)

SCF (3-0)

#7 Eastern Florida (1-2)

RV Georgia Highlands (1-2)

Albany Tech (1-2)

#17 South Georgia Tech (0-3)

Notes:

The inaugural Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving All-Classic Team was later named with 12 players (two from each team) as listed:

Marvin McGhee III (South Georgia Tech)

Jalen Reynolds (South Georgia Tech)

Christian Jackson (Georgia Highlands)

TJ Porter (Georgia Highlands)

Jalen Nesmith (Albany Tech)

John Egbuta (Albany Tech)

AJ Cajuste (Indian River State) Co-All-Classic MVP

Bendji Pierre (Indian River State)

Brody Boyer (Eastern Florida State)

Justin Reid (Eastern Florida State)

James 'Pop' Weathers (SCF) Co-All-Classic MVP

Ametri Moss (SCF)

With his 19 points, Weathers now has 588 in his career and need 412 to reach 1,000 career points.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Miami Dade (4-4) would fall to #12 Northwest Florida State (8-1) 78-56. The Sharks will play #4 Chipola College (7-1) Sunday afternoon in Niceville.

Hillsborough (5-3) defeated St. Pete (3-6) 49-48. The Hawks will take on Santa Fe College (8-1) Wednesday night, December 1.

Upcoming Southern Conference Schedule:

11/30:

RV Florida Southwestern vs Polk State

12/1:

Hillsborough @ Santa Fe

12/4:

#9 Indian River State @ Pasco-Hernando State

Hillsborough vs Albany Tech

RV FSW vs Daytona State

Miami Dade @ #7 Eastern Florida State

Up Next:

The Manatees return to action next weekend as they face Daytona State (4-5) at home Friday night, December 3 at 7 pm before heading on the road to Gainesville to take on RV Santa Fe College (8-1) Saturday afternoon, December 4 at 2 pm.

4th Herd Takes Deja Vu Rematch at Classic

Bradenton, Fla - Day two of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic ended in a similar point margin for the SCF basketball team (7-3) as they defeated Georgia Highlands (3-5) 75-72. With the win, the Manatees are now 2-0 against the Chargers and 4-1 against teams from Georgia.

“I think it'd be really easy for people to look at Georgia Highland's record and not really dig into who they played,” said head coach Tom Parks. “Talking to JJ (Merritt), who is a good friend of mine, he said last year, their strength in schedule was weak down the stretch and wanted to play a tougher schedule, so I don't think people realize how good Georgia Highlands is. They have seven players that have played NCAA Division I basketball, so it definitely feels good to beat a team twice. We knew it was going to be a hard win based on the fact that they controlled 36 of the 40 minutes throughout the game last time and we made a push at the end to win the game, so to be able to be on the winning side is unbelievable, but it was also nerve racking, so it was fun to come out on top.”

"It was an up-and-down game," said sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers. "We started off slow being down 14 to 2 in the first half and we have started slow plenty of times, but we knew that we can bounce back from it and come back strong and that's what we did today."

"It feels good," said freshman Ametri Moss. "Georgia Highlands is a good team and we just started off slow and had to pick up the pace and intensity in the second half with our defense became a big part of the win at the end and it all came together as a team."

"It is great to be 2-0 to start the Thanksgiving Classic," said sophomore Clarence Cummings III. "Today's game was kind of rough and we almost blew it, but we kept fighting as a team and it got us this win."

"We beat once at their place and we knew they were going to come at us," said freshman Ronnail Tape. "We knew they were coming in on a three-game losing streak. They were off to a fast start and we were down 14-4. It was the same like the game at their place, so we kind of expected it as the game went and we had to bring ourselves back to match up against them. Overall, it was a great game for both teams as we both fought hard, but it was us that came out on top to get the win."

At the second half, the Manatees would once again get off to a slow start and their chances of getting a lead started to dwindle, but the 4th Herd continued to fight and eventually took a 10-point lead for the next seven minutes before the Chargers started to come back and cut the deficit to single digits.

With less than one minute left, the Chargers inbounded the ball and were on the path of scoring a third straight bucket, but Tape would take a charge that would be the key play to give the Manatees a chance to keep their lead. 

"Although there was some traffic where I couldn't see what was happening and seeing Ronnail take the charge and get use to it and get up from it shows how hard he worked on taking charges," said Parks on Tape taking the game-winning charge.

After freshman Jacari White would hit the final two free throws, the Chargers would miss their final opportunity to tie the game to 75 apiece as the Manatees would seal the deal for the win and sweep over the Chargers.

"I get confused a lot because the depth of our team is better than what we had before," said Parks on the team. "We got guys that can come in off the bench and lead us in scoring. Pop (Weathers) and Cobey (Harraway) have had some big scoring games and Meech (Moss) has had games where he scored between 15 to 18 points and Clarence (Cummungs III), Jacari (White) and Djordje (Gobovic) have had some good scoring games. Kwo (Agwa) and Von (Bell) has had some of those games too, so it's kind of fun from an offensive standpoint. You have to guard every single guy we have on the floor and they all have played with a lot of confidence, which is fun to watch. I obviously have a ton of belief in everyone on our roster, but it's nice to see them really start to be like 'I'm a very good basketball player with the demeanor as I am and I'm going to play with confidence, free and make plays', so I thought the last two days, we had a chip on our shoulder and we kind of came out with that confidence despite the slow start today, but I feel like overall we weren't rattled and said to ourselves that we just need to relax and settle in for a bit."

It felt good to get the win," said Weathers on the game. "I have a lot of respect for them. They have a lot of good players that don't mess around, so it felt to get two wins off of them and build from it as a confidence booster."

Four players scored in double figures. Weathers would lead the way with 18 points (8-for-12 FG, 1-for-2 FT), four rebounds, six assists and one steal.

“I knew I had to come back from trapping the ball and play different,” said Weathers on his game. “I was passing the ball more and being more smarter with it and the team did as well and we just formed it together.”

White would follow with 16 points (6-for-14 FG, 2-for-10 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), three rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Moss added 15 points (5-for-11 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 4-for-6 FT), six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

"I felt like I started off slow and I had to pick it up in the second half," said Moss on his game. "I felt like my team was there for me and picked me up and I knew I had to be there for them to get this win."

Cummings III would round out the order with his second double-double of 11 points (4-for-8 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 1-for-2 FT) and 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

“It was a solid game for me,” said Cummings III on his game. "It should have been a full game instead of it being one half or one-sided, but it was a solid game overall."

Tape would finish with five points (2-for-2 FG, 1-for-1 FT) and five rebounds.

"I just tried to do what I needed to do," said Tape on his game. "Last time, we had a ton of rebounds on us and I wanted to make sure that I get plenty of the rebounds to help us win this close of a game."

"When we recruited Ronnail, Nav (Gill) told me about it and when he showed me his highlights from his senior year of high school, the first minute is him catching lobs and dunking. The next minute is literally him taking charges," said Parks on Tape. "Most people don't put taking charges on their highlight tapes and I was sold on him two minutes into his highlight tape and was like 'ok, he took 15 charges and I got to get him'. It's great to have talented guys that can do things like score and rebound, but when you have someone being able to sacrifice their own body for the team is unbelievable."

"I don't think people realize how good Ronnail is. He has been out with a hamstring injury for the majority of the preseason and the tough part about him is he make his money out of playing hard and out-competing people while questioning his hamstring up until a week and a half ago and even when he was practicing, he would be very reserved to push off of it and jump. Now he's at the point where he feels good to play through it and be use to what he does, so it was nice to see him do that."

Sophomore Kwo Agwa (three points, three rebounds and one block) and freshmen Cobey Harraway (four points, five rebounds, two assists and one block), Djordje Gobovic (three points, two rebounds, two blocks and one steal) and Sam Faraday (one rebound) also contributed in the game.

Sophomore TJ Porter lead the Chargers with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while classmate Jayvis Harvey followed with 17 points and six rebounds. Porter and Harvey were the only two Chargers that scored in double figures.

Notes:

Prior to SCF playing, #7 Eastern Florida State (6-2) defeated #17 South Georgia Tech (6-2) 90-63. Following EFSC’s win, #9 Indian River State (9-1) would defeat Albany Tech (6-1) 85-77.

With his 18 points, Weathers moves to 569 in career and needs 431 to reach 1,000 career points.

Up Next:

The Manatees will wrap up the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic as they face Albany Tech Saturday evening at 6 pm.

Before the SCF vs Albany Tech game, #9 Indian River State will play #17 South Georgia Tech at 2 pm and will be followed by #7 Eastern Florida State playing RV Georgia Highlands at 4 pm.

4th Herd Opens Classic with Upset OT Win!!!

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (7-3) opened up day one of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic at Hal Chasey Gymnasium in success as they upset #17 South Georgia Tech (5-1) 103-98 in overtime.

"It felt good to get the win and play  at home," said head coach Tom Parks. "South Georgia Tech is a really talented team and they can score a lot of points. They have some very talented players and some really good role pieces that they can fill in the gaps and can also play if one of their guys is down. It felt good knowing that it was an upset win and I thought going into it, we were the better team, despite the poll being early, but I'm glad that we beat the #17 team in the country and I thought it was nice to open the Thanksgiving Classic with a win and go eat a nice meal."

"I thought it was a game of runs and I thought we had time where we were really good and run away with it, but I watched a lot of film on South Georgia Tech where got behind in multiple games and crawled back. I thought our guys persevered and when we were down by three in overtime, I thought they battled back with big plays, rebounds and stops that really mattered. Overall, I thought we played really well as a team with a lot of guys stepping up."

Prior to SCF's game, #7 Eastern Florida State (5-2) would get upset by Albany Tech (6-0) in the opening game by a score of 61-51. After EFSC's loss, #9 Indian River State (8-1) would defeat RV Georgia Highlands (3-2) by a score of 94-82.

In the first half, the Manatees got off to a good start from an offensive runs by freshmen Ametri Moss and Cobey Harraway and strong rebounding by classmates Djordje Gobovic and Ronnail Tape. Eventually, that would give the Manatees a 54-41 lead at the end of the first half.

At the start of the second half, the Jets fought with a 11-4 run to start, forcing the Manatees to call a timeout with the score 58-52. The Manatees would then continue to push their offensive game by sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers, but the Jets started to creep up closer and would eventually tie the game at 89 a piece and send the game to overtime.

Overtime would go in the favor for the Manatees as the Jets continued to foul Weathers and send him to the free throw line in success. The final seconds would be the dagger as freshman Jacari White would draw a foul and score the final two free throws to seal the up set win for the Manatees.

In the end, six players ended up in double figures, with two having a double-double. Harraway was the offensive leader as he finished with a new season-high 27 points (11-for-16 FG, 3-for-5 3PT, 2-for-4 FT), one rebound, one assist and one steal.

Moss and Weathers would follow with 16 points each. Moss (5-for-8 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 5-for-6 FT) added four rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Weathers (4-for-16 FG, 8-for-13 FT) had a double-double with a career-high 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals. In fact, Weathers was three assists shy of his second career triple-double.

"Pop was our anchor, even though he says himself he struggled out on the floor," said Parks on Weathers. "Everything runs through him and he does a good job not forcing shots and really put his heart out in games where he leads the scoring route, but he did a really good job."

Gobovic would finish with his first collegiate double-double of 13 points (5-for-10 FG, 3-for-4 FT) and 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

"Djordje stepped up on the glass and made some very big plays down the stretch," said Parks on Gobovic. "He definitely showed out on the floor with his blocks and rebounds.

Sophomore Kwo Agwa would add 12 points (5-for-8 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 1-for-2 FT) and four rebounds, while White rounded out the order with 11 points (4-for-11 FG, 1-for-6 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), five rebounds, three assists and one block.

"Jacari's defense is incredible and he knows how to hold it down," said Parks on White.

Sophomores Clarence Cummings III (seven points, five rebounds and three assists) and Christian Nieto (three points, one rebound, one steal and one assist), Tape (one point and five rebounds) and freshman Sam Faraday (one assist) also contributed in the game.

For the Jets, sophomore Marvin McGhee lead the way with 37 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Classmate Will Johnston would follow with 18 points and five assists, while sophomore Jalen Reynolds added a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds with two blocks.

Notes:

Weathers' 16 points put him at 551 in his career and needs 449 to reach the 1,000 points milestone.

Up Next:

The Manatee will start day two of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic as they face RV Georgia Highlands in a rematch Friday night, November 26 at 7 pm.

Before the Manatees play, #7 Eastern Florida State will play #21 South Georgia Tech at 3 pm and will be followed by Indian River State playing Albany Tech at 5 pm.

4th Herd Splits with Huge Win to Open Classic

Rome, Ga - A crucially late 8-0 run in the second half of the first game proved to be the turning point for the SCF basketball team (6-3) in the second half of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic as they defeated RV Georgia Highlands (3-1) 85-82 before falling to #4 Chipola College (5-1) 78-56 at the two-day Dana Davis Classic at the Corral Arena in Rome, Georgia.

SCF vs Georgia Highlands:

"It felt really good to get the win, especially on the road in Georgia and eight and a half hours away from home," said head coach Tom Parks. "Anytime you can pull out a win like this is good. Georgia Highlands is a very good team. Even after watching their film where they only played three games, it was still kind of difficult to see how good they are until you play them in the middle of the game and they're making some unbelievably tough plays while being scrappy and very good defensively, so it was good to get a win against a team ranked in one poll and and receiving votes in the NJCAA National Polls, so that's good, especially on the road and playing against one of the best teams in the country and different regions and we wanted to represent Florida and get the win and that's what we did."

The first half saw it neck and neck with both teams exchanging leads while the Chargers were up by as much as 10 in the first half from several 3-point shots. The Manatees would pull themselves together and put a comeback thanks to successful free throws made by sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers and baskets by redshirt sophomore Clarence Cummings III. Despite the comeback, the Chargers took the first half 42-40.

The second half still continued to play in favor of the Chargers until the last four minutes left in the game. With the score 80-72 Georgia Highlands, the Manatees were able to utilize and 8-0 run thanks to two baskets by Weathers before freshman Cobey Harraway tied the game at 80 apiece before freshman Ametri Moss gave the Manatees an 82-80 lead with a layup with less than a minute left in the game. Cummings III was then fouled and shot two successful free throw to give the Manatees an 84-80 lead. 

After freshman TJ Horton was fouled to cut the deficit to 84-82 after two successful free throws, Harraway was fouled and made one of two at the free throw line to make it 85-82 SCF.

With 12.2 seconds left, the Chargers went for one final shot to send the game to overtime as redshirt freshman Brandon Barron went for the 3-point shot from the corner to no avail as the Manatees sealed the final win.

Four Manatees scored in double figures and it was Weathers that lead the way as he finished with 22 points (7-for-11 FG, 8-for-10 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.

"Pop was really good tonight," said Parks on Weathers.  "He didn't struggle against St. Pete and he honestly holds himself to a standard. I don't think he struggled at all this season because he's learning and growing as a point guard while trying to figure out a new team. We had this conversation many times and last year we asked him to a lot. Whether it was right or wrong, we needed him to be aggressive scoring the basket. He put a lot on his shoulders and right now he's trusting the process of working with a new team with his role as the point guard."

Cummings III would follow with his first collegiate double-double of a season-high 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. In fact, he was four assists away from a triple-double as he added six assists, two steals and a block.

Sophomore Kwo Agwa also finished with 14 points (6-for-FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 1-for-2 FT), three rebounds and a steal off the bench, while Moss rounded out the order with 12 points (5-for-11 FG, 2-for-5 FT), six rebounds and two assists.

Freshmen Djordje Gobovic and Ronnail Tape each had six points. Gobovic (3-for-7 FG) added six rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals, while Tape (2-for-3 FG, 2-for-2 FT) added four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Sophomore Javon Bell (three points, two rebounds and two assists), freshman Jacari White (seven points, one rebound and one assist) and Harraway (five points, three rebounds, one assist and three blocks) also contributed in the game.

For the Chargers, four of their players also scored in double figures. Sophomore Jarrel Rosser lead the way with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocks. Classmates Chris Wright and Jayvis Harvey each had 13 points, two assists and two steals with Wright adding three rebounds, while sophomore Christian Jackson rounded out the order with 10 points, three rebounds and one steal.

Sophomore TJ Porter was three points shy of a double-double as he finished with seven points and 16 rebounds before fouling out.

SCF vs Chipola:

Weathers once again lead the Manatees offensively as he finished with 19 points (9-for-14 FG, 1-for-1 FT), five rebounds, two assists, one steal and once block. Gobovic would follow with 10 points (3-for-4 FG, 4-for-4 FT), four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Both Weathers and Gobovic were the only Manatees that scored in double figures.

White and Agwa each finished with eight points. White (2-for-3 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Agwa (2-for-6 FG, 4-for-9 FT) added two rebounds and a steal.

Bell (four points, four rebounds, two steals and a block), Cummings III (two points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal), Harraway (two points and two assists), Moss (three points and one rebound) and Tape (three rebounds and one assist) also contributed against Chipola.

Notes:

Weathers' 41 points put him at 535 in his career. He needs 465 points to reach 1,000 career points and being the second player under the Parks Era to reach the milestone.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

RV FSW (5-2) split at their hosted FSW Turkey Day Classic. The Buccaneers defeated #20 Snow College (4-1) 67-53 on day one of the FSW Turkey Day Classic before losing 85-71 to RV Spartanburg Methodist (7-1) on day two. They will face St. Pete (3-4) Tuesday night, November 23. FSW was ranked #19 in the nation before dropping out of the NJCAA Top 25 Poll.

Miami Dade (4-3) swept the two-day MDC Shark Classic after defeating ASA Miami (2-4) 80-67 on day one and DME Academy 75-73 in overtime on day two. The Sharks will travel to Marianna to take on #12 Northwest Florida State (5-1) Tuesday night, November 23.

Weekly Southern Conference Schedule:

11/25:

Indian River State vs RV Georgia Highlands @ SCF

11/26:

Indian River State vs Albany Tech @ SCF

11/27:

Indian River State vs South Georgia Tech @ SCF

Hillsborough vs St. Pete

Miami Dade vs #12 Northwest Florida State

11/28:

Miami Dade vs #4 Chipola

11/30:

RV FSW vs Polk State

Up Next:

The Manatees return home to Hal Chasey Gymnasium for the second half of the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic as they welcome Georgia Highlands in a rematch as well as welcoming #17 South Georgia Tech (6-0) and Albany Tech (5-0). Indian River State (7-1) and #7 Eastern Florida State (5-1) will also travel to Bradenton to compete in the classic.

4th Herd Takes Big Road Win Over SPC

St. Petersburg, Fla - After splitting last weekend on the road, the SCF basketball team (5-2) pushed themselves to a tight road game as they defeated St. Pete College (2-4) 68-63 at the Gibbs Gymnasium in St. Petersburg. With the win, the Manatees are now 14-19 against the Titans.

"It was really big to get a win over St. Pete," said head coach Tom Parks.  "They are a tough, scrappy and aggressive team with some good returners and good freshmen. I thought they played a really good game and it's a tough place to win against a hall of fame coach, so anytime you can come out with a win, after playing St. Pete, it's always a good feeling."

Side Note w/ Personal Opinion: Parks referred SPC head coach Earnest Crumbley as a hall of fame coach.  I mean Crumbley has been with SPC for 23 years, which is amazing, so in a way, I would think he would be a hall of fame coach as well.

"I thought overall we played pretty good, despite it being a fairly low-scoring game," said Parks on the team's performance. "I thought the officials really let us play, so it was a very physical game, especially under the basket. Those kind of games are a lot of fun. On both sides, they let us play, which plays into our advantages. I thought we did a good job containing them on the glass for the most part with a really good team effort with a bunch of guys stepping up. Pop and Clarence both had good games and Djordje Gobovic had a lot of good rebounds. Overall, all of the guys that went in played good individual and team defense down the stretch when we needed it and everyone chipped in on their part for us to get the win."

The Manatees were off to a slow start in the first half after being up 12-9, but soon they would go up by as much as nine points before taking the first half 39-35.

The second half saw the Titans start to creep up as they were able to take the lead for a brief amount of time, but the Manatees continued to scrap at the Titans as they took a 64-63 lead with two minutes. From there, sophomore Clarence Cummings III would seal the deal with four straight free throws in success for the Manatees and the win.

Three Manatees scored in double figures. It was sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers that lead the way offensively as he finished with 20 points (9-for-14 FG, 2-for-2 FT), four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

"Pop really stood out and was very efficient," said Parks on Weathers. "He made a lot of big shots down the stretch for us. I thought he took some really good ones and didn't force them. His finish to contact on his shots were great."

Cummings III would follow with 12 points (4-for-10 FG, 4-for-4 FT), six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal, while freshman Cobey Harraway rounded out the order with 11 points (4-for-11 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), two rebounds and one steal.

"Clarence played really good and Cobey had some big plays in the second half," said Parks on Cummings III and Harraway. "They both did a really good job on the glass on both sides of the floor."

Freshman Djordje Gobovic would secure and surpass a season-high 16 rebounds to go along with six points, one assist and one block, while classmate Jacari White added seven points (2-for-6 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), one rebound, four assists and two steals.

Sophomores Javon Bell (five points, four rebounds and two blocks) and Kwo Agwa (two points, two rebounds and one steal) and freshmen Ametri Moss (five points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals) and Ronnail Tape (two rebounds, one assist and one block) also contributed in the game.

For the Titans, freshman Ludwig Isaac Brito lead the way with 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while classmate Zane Nelson followed with 13 points and four rebounds. 

Notes:

Weathers' 20 points put him at 494 in his career and needs 506 to reach 1,000 career points

Personal Opinion: Do I think Weathers has the chance to reach 1,000 career points? Absolutely! How many games will it take him to do so? My honest guess would be five games during conference play. If he gets it before that, either way it's still amazing.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Indian River State (6-1) defeated Daytona State (1-5) 102-86 on the road. The Pioneers will face Polk State (4-1) Saturday afternoon, November 20.

Miami Dade (2-3) defeated Fort Lauderdale University JV 100-41. The Sharks will host the two-day Shark Classic as they welcome ASA Miami (2-2) and DME Academy Friday night and Saturday afternoon, November 19-20.

Southern Conference Weekly Schedule:

11/18:

HCC vs Pasco-Hernando State

11/19:

#19 FSW vs #20 Snow College (FSW Turkey Day Classic)

Miami Dade vs ASA Miami (MDC Shark Classic)

11/20:

#19 FSW vs Spartanburg Methodist (FSW Turkey Day Classic)

Indian River State vs Polk State

MDC vs DME Academy (MDC Shark Classic)

HCC vs RADD Sports Elite Postgrad

11/23:

#19 FSW vs SPC

Up Next:

The Manatees mark their calendars for their long awaited two-part classic as they travel to Georgia for part one of the the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic. They will take on #5 Chipola College (4-1) and RV Georgia Highlands (3-0) at Floyd Campus Gymnasium in Rome, Georgia.

4th Herd Set for Thanksgiving Classic

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (5-2) has set sight on a new challenge for the next five games as they will compete in the Florida vs Georgia JUCO Basketball Classic. The Manatees will first travel to Rome, Georgia for the two-day Dana Davis Classic to face #5 Chipola College (4-1) and host RV Georgia Highlands College (3-0) at the Corral Arena Friday and Saturday afternoon, November 20-21 at 3 and 7 pm.

Four days later, during the Thanksgiving weekend, the second half of the classic will take place at Hal Chasey Gymnasium where the Manatees will welcome RV Georgia Highlands, #21 South Georgia Tech (5-0) and Albany Tech (4-0), November 25-27.

#24 Indian River State (7-1) and #4 Eastern Florida State (5-1) will travel to Bradenton to also compete in the classic, but the Manatees will not play Eastern Florida State as they played them earlier in the season and will not play Indian River State until Southern Conference play.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of another road game where they defeated former Suncoast Conference rival St. Pete College 68-63 in a tight game.

Origin of Classic:

Head coach Tom Parks originated the classic after a humorous Twitter war against the head coaches from Georgia. One tweet lead to another and it was confirmed and made official for this season. Soon after, #4 Eastern Florida State, #24 Indian River State and #5 Chipola joined the fray and joined SCF in the classic to make it official.

Popping Near 1,000:

Sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers continues leading the path for the Manatees' offense while setting a milestone of his own. Weathers is averaging 17.7 points, six rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Against SPC, he had 20 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Additionally, Weathers is at 494 career points and needs 506 more to reach 1,000 points in his career.

Classmate Javon Bell is averaging 11 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, despite being held to five points while adding four rebounds and two blocks against SPC.

Wild Card Showdown:

Four players have been deemed as wildcards for their game performances: sophomore Clarence Cummings III and freshmen Cobey Harraway, Jacari White and Djordje Gobovic.

Since his transfer from Hillsborough CC, Cummings III is averaging 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He had 12 points and four rebounds against SPC.

Harraway is averaging 12 points per game, in which he had 11 points off the bench against SPC.

White, a key defender on steals, is averaging 2.3 steals to go along with averaging 10.1 points and four rebounds per game. He had seven points, one rebound and two steals against SPC off the bench.

Gobovic has played a big role as the big man for the team as he is averaging 5.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Gobovic surpassed his season-high in rebounds with 16 to go along with six points and one block against SPC.

Fun Fact:

The Manatees are 2-1 against teams from Georgia.

Scouting Chipola:

The Indians are coming off of splitting at the Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne after losing to then #11 Eastern Florida State 73-71 in overtime before defeating then RV Santa Fe College 74-69.

Sophomore Nae'qwan Tomlin leads the team averaging 14 points and eight rebounds per game, while freshman Shayeon Davis follows averaging 12.4 points per game.

Scouting EFSC:

The Titans moved up to #1 in the FCSAA Coaches poll and #4 in the nation's top 25 poll after sweeping their hosted Florida JUCO Shootout over Chipola (73-71) and SCF (71-69). They opened their first two games of the season with wins over Central Pointe Academy (95-71) and ASA Miami (78-28).

The Titans will play in the FSW Turkey Day Classic prior to the Florida vs Georgia Classic against Spartanburg Methodist and #20 Snow College in Fort Myers.

Freshmen Derrick Butler (11.5 ppg) and Reggie Hill (11.8 ppg) lead the path in scoring with Butler averaging 4.5 rebounds and three steals per game and Hill averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.

Scouting Georgia Highlands:

Georgia Highlands is one of three of the Georgia teams representing NJCAA Region 17 (Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association) and are receiving votes in the NJCAA Top 25 National Polls.

The Chargers are lead by head coach Jonathan "JJ" Merritt, who enters his second season as head coach, and are coming off of an 82-78 win over Chattahoochee Valley.

Five players are averaging in double digit scoring: sophomores Jarrel Rosser (14.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game), TJ Porter (11 points, 7.5 rebounds and two blocks per game), Jayvis Harvey (11 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game), Christian Jackson (10 points and three rebounds per game) and Jarred Rosser (10 points and 1.5 steals per game).

Scouting South Georgia Tech:

South Georgia Tech is lead by head coach Chris Ballauer, who enters his ninth season as head coach. The Jets, who are ranked #21 in the nation in the NJCAA Top 25 Polls, are coming off of a 84-82 win over Chattahoochee Valley. They will play Action Sports Academy prior to the classic.

Sophomore Marvin McGhee leads the team averaging 24 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game, while classmate William Johnston follows averaging 21 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.

Sophomore Jalen Reynolds is leading the Jets averaging 9.4 rebounds, while also averaging 11 points and 1.8 blocks per game.

Scouting Albany Tech:

Albany Tech is lead by head coach Timothy Dal Bon, who enters his second season as head coach. The Titans are coming off of an 89-67 win over Enterprise State College and an 90-65 win over Florida Gateway College. They will play Action Sports Academy prior to the classic.

Sophomore Cam Singletary averages 16.8 points, 4.5 assists and 5.3 steals per game. Classmate Jalen Nesmith follows averaging 14.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.

Sophomore John Egbuta and Khalyl Simmons are both averaging 13.3 points per game. Egbuta also averages five rebounds per game, while Simmons averages 2.8 rebounds per game.

Series History:

While it is the first time the Manatees play Georgia Highlands, South Georgia Tech and Albany Tech, they are 1-2 against the Indians. In their last outings, the Manatees split with the Indians, losing their season opener on the road 81-71 before defeating them at Hal Chasey 69-67.

The games for SCF's road games will air livestream on the Georgia Chargers YouTube page (Chargers Sports Network) and the games at home will air livestream on the SCF Sports Network. The SCF Sports Network will air the other games as well.

Schedule Breakdown:

11/25:

#4 EFSC vs Albany Tech @ 12 pm

Indian River State vs RV Georgia Highlands @ 2 pm*

SCF vs #21 South Georgia Tech @ 4 pm*

11/26:

#21 South Georgia Tech vs #4 EFSC @ 3 pm

Albany Tech vs Indian River State @ 5 pm*

SCF vs RV Georgia Highlands @ 7 pm*

11/27:

Indian River State vs #21 South Georgia Tech @ 2 pm

#4 EFSC vs RV Georgia Highlands @ 4 pm*

SCF vs Albany Tech @ 6 pm*

*Game times are not official until the first game is completed

Chargers Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChargersSportsNetwork

SCF Sports Network: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

4th Herd Remains on Road @ SPC

 Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (4-2) remain on the road for their next game as they travel to St. Petersburg to take on former conference rival St. Pete College (3-2) at the Gibbs Campus Gymnasium Wednesday night, November 17 at 7:30 pm.

The game will air livestream on the SPC Athletics website (link below).

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a splint after defeating Florida State College at Jacksonville (86-51) before almost upsetting #11 Eastern Florida State (71-69) at the Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne, hosted by Eastern Florida State.

Sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers is leading the path for the Manatees as he is averaging 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game. At the Florida JUCO Shootout, Weathers had a combined 22 points, 11 rebounds, 17 assists and five steals.

Weather's 22 points at the Florida JUCO Shootout also put him at 474 in his career and needs 526 to reach 1,000 career points.

Classmate Javon Bell has been leading the path while at the 3-point line. Bell is currently averaging 12 points (2.7 3PT per game), 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. At the Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne, he had a combined 30 points, three rebounds and four blocks.

Freshmen Cobey Harraway, Jacari White and Djordje Gobovic have been playing well overall as well. Harraway is averaging 12.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, while White is averaging 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game and Gobovic averages 5.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

Scouting SPC:

The Titans are coming off of hosting their version of the Florida JUCO Shootout last weekend. Unfortunately, they would fall to Indian River State (92-75) and Pensacola State (73-61). They are currently riding on a three-game losing streak.

Freshman Zane Wilson leads the team offensively averaging 15.8 points and 2.4 assists per game, while sophomore Martin Mercedes follows averaging 12.8 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Series History (2012-present):

Overall, the Manatees are 13-19 against the Titans. Last time both teams met was on January 26 where the Titans won 87-72 at SCF.

Link: https://athletics.spcollege.edu/broadcast/watch

4th Herd Splits @ Florida JUCO Shootout

Melbourne, Fla - The SCF basketball team (4-2) pushed themselves to another tournament sweep as they defeated Florida State College at Jacksonville (0-3) 86-51 before losing a close game against host #11 Eastern Florida State (4-0) 71-69 at the Florida JUCO Shootout in the Titans Field House. With the sweep, the Manatees are now 8-6 against the Blue Wave and 1-2 against the Titans.

SCF vs FSCJ:

The first half saw the Manatees off to a 7-0 start thanks to points from freshman Djordje Gobovic and sophomore Javon Bell. The Blue Wave took a brief 14-10 lead, but the Manatees put on an offensive drive from a big outing by freshman Cobey Harraway. The Manatees would take the first half 46-27.

The second half was no different for the Manatees after big 3-pointers from Bell and sophomore Kwo Agwa along with crucial rebounds from Gobovic and freshman Jacari White. In the end, the Manatees were able to secure a 30-plus point lead and seal the win.

Five Manatees scored in double figures. Bell would lead the way as he finished with 21 points (7-for-9 FG, 7-for-9 3PT), two rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Harraway would follow with 16 points (6-for-9 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), one rebound, two assists and two steals off the bench.

White and redshirt sophomore Clarence Cummings III finished with 11 points each. White (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Cummings III (4-for-4 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 2-for-3 FT) added six rebounds, one assist and one block

Agwa rounded out the order with 10 points (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 1-for-2 FT), three rebounds, tow assists and one steal.

Freshman Ametri Moss had nine points (3-for-6 FG, 3-for-5 FT), three rebounds, five assists and four steals, while sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers was held to a season-low seven points, but added a season-high 11 assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

Gobovic (two points, five rebounds and one block), sophomore Darik Tannis-Harriet (one rebound and one steal) and freshmen Sam Faraday (two points, one rebound and one block) and Ronnail Tape (two rebounds and one block) also contributed in the game.

SCF vs EFSC:

The first half was seen in the favor of the Manatees as it looked that they were able to hold on to the lead, but the second half proved to be the dagger as the Titans took the Manatees' upset opportunity away to save their national ranking.

Three Manatees were in double figures in scoring against EFSC. Weathers lead the way with 15 points (7-for-19 FG, 1-for-1 FT), three rebounds and six assists. 

White followed with a season-high 14 points (4-for-8 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 5-for-6 FT), three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, while Harraway rounded out the order with 10 points (4-for-8 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 1-for-2 FT), three rebounds and one assist.

Bell finished with nine points (3-for-7 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 1-for-1 FT), two rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks.

Gobovic and Agwa each had six rebounds and two blocks. Gobovic added six points, while Agwa added eight points two assists.

Cummings (two points), Moss (three points, two rebounds and two assists) and Tape (two points) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

Weathers' 22 total points put him at 472 and needs 528 to become the second player under the Parks era to reach 1,000 career points.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Hillsborough (2-2) fell to Pensacola State (3-1) 75-65 before defeating Daytona State (1-4) 95-90 at the Florida JUCO Shootout in St. Pete. The Hawks will return home and welcome Pasco-Hernando State Thursday night, November 18.

#22 FSW (4-1) swept their part of the Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne by defeating Tallahassee (1-3) 61-55 before defeating Florida State College at Jacksonville 99-67. The Buccaneers will return home for the next two game as they welcome Snow College and Spartanburg Methodist Friday and Saturday night.

Miami Dade (2-2) fell to RV Santa Fe (4-1) 78-60 and Tallahassee (2-2) 65-55. The Sharks will return home for the next three games at home as they welcome Fort Lauderdale University JV Wednesday night, November 17 before welcoming ASA Miami (1-2) and DME Academy for the Shark Classic.

Indian River State (5-1) defeated St. Pete College (2-3) 92-75 before upsetting #6 Northwest Florida State (3-1) 79-75 at the Florida JUCO Shootout in St. Pete. The Pioneers will travel to Daytona State Wednesday night, November 17.

Up Next:

The Manatees remain on the road for their next three games as they travel to St. Pete to take on St. Pete College Wednesday night, November 17 before heading to Georgia for the start of the Florida vs Georgia Classic Friday, November 20

4th Herd Set for JUCO Shootout

 Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (3-1) head back on the road for another weekend tournament as they will compete in the two-day Florida JUCO Shootout at the Titan Field House in Melbourne Friday and Saturday night, November 12 and 13. The Manatees will face Florida State College at Jacksonville (0-2) Friday night at 5 pm before taking on host #11 Eastern Florida State (2-0) Saturday night at 7:30 pm.

#22 FSW (1-1), #4 Chipola (3-0), RV Santa Fe (3-0), Tallahasse (1-1) and Miami Dade (2-0) are also competing in the shootout. SCF will not face TCC as they already played them at the Indian River State Veteran's Day Classic. Additionally, SCF will not face FSW, Chipola, Santa Fe and Miami Dade until conference play.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of winning their first home game of the season after defeating ASA Miami 89-80 in a close matchup.

Despite the result, the Manatees moved up to #8 in the NJCAA Region 8 Men's Basketball Polls.

Another Reunion:

The game between SCF and Eastern Florida State will bring upon another reunion between head coach Tom Parks and head coach Jeremy Shulman. Parks was the assistant coach under Shulman's wing during the 2017-18 season before becoming SCF's head coach.

This will be the third time Parks and Shulman face each other as head coach vs head coach. The series between the two is tied 1-1. Shulman took the first game during the first round of the 2019 FCSAA State  Tournament, while Parks took the second during the shortened 2021 season.

Popping for 1,000:

For sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers, he is still looking to become the second player under the Parks Era to reach 1,000 career points. Currently, Weathers is averaging 20 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and has 450 career points. In the game against ASA Miami, he had 15 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Weathers needs 550 points to reach the milestone, so he would need to average at least 21 points per game for the remainder of the season.

Wild Card Players:

Freshmen Jacari White, Djordje Gobovic and Ametri Moss and redshirt sophomore Clarence Cummings III have been very effective as the wild card players.

While still playing off the bench, White has been on point from a defensive standpoint. Currently, he is averaging 10 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. Against ASA Miami, White had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Since being in the starting lineup, Gobovic has had a effective role defensively as he is averaging 6.5 points, five rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He had eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks against ASA Miami.

Although he was held to seven points and three assists against ASA Miami, Moss is still averaging 9.8 points per game.

Cummings III has played a crucial role in the starting lineup since transferring from Hillsborough this season. Cummings III is currently averaging 9.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Against ASA Miami, he had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in the game.

Ring the Bell:

Sophomore Javon Bell is currently averaging 10.5 points and four rebounds per game. Bell almost had a double-double against ASA Miami as he had 18 points and seven rebounds in the game.

Scouting FSCJ:

The Blue Wave opened their first two games of the season at home. They would fall to Florida Gateway 90-75 and Indian River State 92-62.

Redshirt sophomore Chris Clark leads the way averaging 19.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while sophomore Marland Thompson is averaging 10.5 points and seven rebounds per game.

Scouting EFSC:

The Titans enter this season #3 in the FCSAA and #11 in the nation's top 25 poll. They opened their first two games of the season with wins over Central Pointe Academy (95-71) and ASA Miami (78-28).

The Titans will play #4 Chipola College on day one of the Florida JUCO Shootout.

Freshmen Derrick Butler (15 ppg) and Reggie Hill (14 ppg) lead the path in scoring with Butler averaging six rebounds and 4.5 steals per game and Hill averaging 7.5 rebounds per game.

Series History:

Overall, the Manatees are 1-2 against the Titans and 7-6 against the Blue Wave.

Bell Leads 4th Herd to First Home Win

Bradenton, Fla - Sophomore Javon Bell’s near double-double chance helped lead the SCF basketball team (3-1) to an 89-80 win over ASA Miami (1-2). With the win, the Manatees are now 4-1 against the Silver Storm.

"I just think we have a lot of freshmen and the theme is learning from our experiences," said head coach Tom Parks. "We took a team for granted tonight and we allowed them to play in our gym with a lot of confidence and when you do that, it ends up being a close game down the stretch. I thought we guarded when we needed to get stop, in which we did for three straight games now, but we need to make sure that we guard all the time and not just when our backs are against the wall where we have to get a stop to get. If we can do that for 40 minutes, then we can put some teams away early to have a better game overall."

"It's a good feeling to get a dub at home," said sophomore Kwo Agwa. "It wasn't the way we expected it, but a win is a win at the end of the day."

"We started off slow in the game and we had to pick it up in the second half," said freshman Jacari White. "We wanted to win by much more and I had to gather up scoring on the defensive end and we picked it up."

"We came out slow against a pretty decent team," said Bell on getting the win. "We could have been better from the outcome, but we got the win and that's what counts and all that matters at the end of the day

The Manatees got off to a slow start and were starting to almost dwindle back to their season opener, but after a few tweaks and modifications, the Manatees were able to hold the first half in their favor by a score of 40-37. 

The second half provided a lot of defense for the Manatees from Bell, Agwa, White and freshman Djordje Gobovic from several steals, blocks and rebounds. In the end, the Manatees continued to hold their own and secure their first home win of the season.

Five players scored in double-figures, including Bell, who finished with 18 points (7-for-11 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 2-for-4 FT), seven rebounds, one assist and three blocks.

"I felt good out there," said Bell on his game. "I thought I could have done better at getting more shots, but it wasn't too bad of a game for me."

"I think Javon played with a lot of energy, which we needed and I thought he made some big plays early, especially during that run late in the first half that helped," said Parks on Bell. "It was nice to see him score the ball because he needed it. I believe we're a team that have a bunch of guys that can lead in scoring on any given night, so it is just reassuring to be able to come out and score the basketball like that because when you have so many guys that can score, you'll have games that you will not score as much, whether it's from a scouting report or whether you don't get the looks that day, so I think it was good for his confidence and it helped out our team."

Sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers, who started the first half with one point, followed with 15 points (7-for-19 FG, 3-for-8 FT), five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

"I think Pop is trying to learn his progression as a point guard and he's trying to figure out when he needs to score and when he needs to get others involved," said Parks on Weathers. "Last year, he needed to be a primary scorer and this year he is learning that we have guys that can score and can help facilitate them scoring the basketball by setting them up and I think, in the last two games, he has had a slow first half and turned it up in the second half. I probably coached one or two other guys in my career that have endurance like his and when you have endurance like that, then you're going to wear teams out and I think that it's just a thing where late in the game, Pop had so many uncontested layups based on the fact that he had plenty left in the tank while everyone else was empty, so I know it wasn't the game he wanted since he struggled from the line, but I think he'll be able to look at his film and see a lot of areas he can improve on so he won't make the same mistake twice, especially when it's early in the year."

Agwa finished with 14 points (5-for-11 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 3-for-3 FT), eight rebounds, one assist and three blocks, while White finished with 12 points (4-for-8 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), seven rebounds, one assist and three steals. Both played off the bench.

"The coach is always telling me to play defense and get rebounds and come off the bench effectively," said Agwa on his game. "So that's what I did and that helped us out."

"I was trying to find my game in the beginning," said White on his game. "We were struggling and scrambling to score, but eventually got my scoring from the defensive end and picked it up as it came to me."

"Jacari is a fun player to coach," said Parks on White. "I think he gets a lot of energy from defensive intensity and he can really guard. He does incredible things on the defensive end, which fuels him offensively. He struggled to start the year shooting the basketball, but he's a really good shooter and I think today was important because he got a couple of shots late to fall that I thought helped with his confidence, but he's a very special player and has a very bright future with us."

Cummings III rounded out the order with 11 points (3-for-9 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 3-for-4 FT), six rebounds, five assists and one steal.

From a defensive standpoint, aside from three blocks from both Bell and Agwa, Gobovic lead the Manatees with 10 rebounds to go along with eight points and three blocks.

"I think Gobo (Gobovic) is interesting," said Parks on Gobovic. "It's really fun to coach him because he gets really excited for every game, almost like a little kid because he's always hyped up and is not scared to play anybody. He's a confident player with so much energy and I think that he's just finding his place on the team and how he can impact the game. He does it with energy and effort, which is something every coach asks for from their players. He may drive me crazy, but he plays hard and does the dirty work when he's on the floor and he's another player that will have a bright future with us."

Freshmen Amerti Moss (seven points, two rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal), Cobey Harraway (two points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals) and Ronnail Tape (two rebounds) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

Weathers’ 15 points put him at 450 in his career and need 550 to reach 1,000 career points.

Tape made his on-court debut for the Manatees.

This was the first interviews with Bell, White and Agwa for the 2021-22 season.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Indian River State (3-1) defeated Florida State College at Jacksonville (0-2) 92-62. The Pioneers will compete in the two-day Florida JUCO Shootout in St. Pete (11/12-13) and take on St. Pete and #6 Northwest Florida State (2-0).

#22 Florida Southwestern (2-1) defeated St. Pete College (2-1) 99-68. The Buccaneers will compete in the Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne against Tallahassee CC (1-1) and Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Upcoming Weekly Southern Conference Games (11/10-17):

11/10:

Hillsborough @ Pasco-Hernando State

Miami Dade vs Miami Sports Academy

11/12:

Miami Dade vs RV Santa Fe College

Hillsborough vs Pensacola State

#22 FSW vs TCC

Indian River State vs St. Pete

11/13:

Miami Dade vs Tallahassee

#22 FSW vs Florida State College at Jacksonville

Indian River State vs #6 NWFS

Hillsborough vs Daytona State

11/17:

Indian River State @ Daytona State

Miami Dade vs Fort Lauderdale University (JV)

Up Next:

The Manatees will join FSW and Miami Dade in the two-day Florida JUCO Shootout in Melbourne. They will face Florida State College at Jacksonville (0-2) and #11 Eastern Florida State College (2-0).

4th Herd Returns Home vs ASA Miami

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (2-1) set their sights back home to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Tuesday night, November 9 at 7:30 pm. The Manatees will welcome ASA Miami (1-1) for their next home matchup.

The game will air livestream on the SCF Sports Network (link below).

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a successful weekend on neutral grounds after they competed in the two-day Indian River State Veteran's Day Classic in Fort Pierce, where they defeated Daytona State 93-77 and Tallahassee 82-80 in overtime. In fact, the Manatees were the only team that completed a sweep in the classic.

Sophomore James "Pop" Weathers is leading the herd offensively. Weathers is averaging 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and five assists per game. At the IRS Veteran's Day Classic, he had a combined 39 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists. Additionally, Weathers has 433 career points and needs 567 to reach 1,000 career points.

Classmate Clearance Cummings III and freshman Ametri Moss are both averaging 10.7 points per game. Additionally, Cummings III is averaging four rebounds and four assists per game, while Moss is averaging 1.3 steals per game. Cummings III had a combined 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Moss had 22 points, and three steals.

Freshmen Cobey Harraway and Jacari White have played as wildcard benefactors on the team. Harraway is averaging 15 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, while White is averaging 9.3 points and four rebounds per game. Harraway had a combined 37 points, which included a season-high 25 against Daytona State, while White had a combined 19 points and eight rebounds.

Scouting ASA Miami:

The Silver Storm, who are deemed as an "independent" in the FCSAA, opened their season in a split winning the first game against Time to Ball Prep by a score of 112-50 before losing to #14 Eastern Florida State by a score of 78-28.

Freshmen Isaiah Mays and Akene Agee lead the team with 14.5 points per game each. Mays is also averaging eight rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, while Agee averages 12.5 rebounds per game.

Series History:

The Manatees hold a 3-1 lead over ASA Miami. Last time both teams met was on September 14, 2019 where the Manatees won 107-101 at the Florida JUCO Shootout in Ocala.

The Silver Storm's lone win against the Manatees was on December 16, 2016 where they won 92-85.

SCF Sports Network: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

4th Herd Sweeps Veteran's Classic

Fort Pierce, Fla - The SCF basketball team (2-1) were able to pull away with their first two wins of the season as they defeated Daytona State College (1-2) 93-77 and Tallahassee CC (1-1) 82-80 in overtime in the IRSC Veteran's Day Classic at the Massey Campus Gymnasium, hosted by Indian River State. With the wins, the Manatees are now 1-5 against the Falcons and 1-5 against the Eagles.

"It feels great to get a clean sweep in a very good classic such as Veteran's Day Classic at Indian River," said head coach Tom Parks. "There were four really good teams and to be the only team to come out 2-0 says something about our program."

SCF vs Daytona:

"It's alway good to get your first win of the year," said Parks. "Obviously, we don't play an easy schedule, so anytime we get a win against a region opponent is great. It's great confidence for the guys as we progress in our non-conference schedule. I thought as a team, we played really well against Daytona. I thought there were no personal agendas and everyone stepped up and played their role.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle as both teams exchanged in lead changes. The Falcons were able to hold a five point lead, but last-second 3-pointer by freshman Ametri Moss cut the deficit to two points. The falcons still took the first half 47-45.

In the second half, the Manatees were down by as much as six to seven points, but then they started kicking it into high gear at the 3-point line and were able to push their lead to double digits before sealing the deal.

"We just picked up and maintained our pace," said Parks on the turning point. "We're just a firm believer that we can run harder than any team in the country. If we keep running that, then at one point the other team is going to run out of gas and that's what happened to Daytona."

In the end, five Manatees scored in double figures, but it was freshman Cobey Harraway that lead the way for the Manatees as he finished with a team-leading 25 points (11-for-15 FG, 2-for-6 3PT, 1-for-1 FT), three rebounds, one assist and three steals off the bench.

"Cobey did what we knew he was capable of doing," said Parks on Harraway. "He's a very good player at the wing and can make great plays on both ends of the floor. It was nice to see him score the ball to help with his confidence, even though he is an extremely confident young man and does not need any reassurance, but it was nice to see hime score some points." 

Moss followed behind Harraway with a season-high 18 points (6-for-10 FG, 4-for-6 3PT, 2-for-4 FT), five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Sophomore James ‘Pop’ Weathers earned his first collegiate triple-double as he finished with 13 points (3-for-11 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 6-for-8 FT), 10 rebounds and 10 assists while adding six steals. Classmate Javon Bell had 13 points (4-for-14 FG, 2-for-10 3PT, 3-for-4 FT), six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and three steals.

Freshman Jacari White rounded out the order with 12 points (4-for-9 FG, 3-for-6 3PT, 1-for-1 FT), three rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Sophomores Clearance Cummings III (four points, six assists, two rebounds, one block and one steal) and Kwo Agwa (six points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks) and freshman Djordje Gobovic (four points, three rebounds and one assist) also contributed in the game.

SCF vs TCC:

The Manatees were off to a 10-0 start in the first three minutes of the first half, but soon things started to falter as turnovers played a big negative and soon the Eagles took the lead and eventually took the first half 38-31.

At the start of the second half, the Manatees began at a slow pace, but after a few adjustments to the defense, their offense soon exploded and communication went smoother to cut the deficit to single digits. With less than 20 seconds left in the second half, the Manatees were able to tie the game at 74 a piece thanks to a crucial layup by Harraway, which would send the game to overtime.

At the start of OT, rebounding and strong defense played a big factor for the Manatees as they were able to take advantage of miscommunications from the Eagles. Harraway would hit the final free-throw before the Eagles missed their scoring opportunity to get the win as the Manatees took the second game and the sweep.

"It felt great to beat Tallahassee, a team that we never beat," said Parks on defeating TCC. "We go into every game as if we're the ones that are supposed to win and play as if we are the underdogs, however our mentality is that we are the better team. It feels good to beat them and we weren't treating them different like any other opponent."

"We fought while we were down by 10 points in the second half and there was never one time where I felt like the guys felt defeated. I think they knew we were in a good position in the game and needed to keep our pace going."

Weathers, despite only scoring two points in the first half, would lead the team offensively as he finished with a season-high 26 points (7-for-15 FG, 12-for-15 FT), nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

"Pop had a great game," said Parks on Weathers. "He knew he needed to take a little more of a scoring role and that's what he did when he scored 24 in the second half and OT. He was just unstoppable with his ability to get to the paint while making some big plays down the stretch and trusted his teammates to make big shots."

Harraway and Cummings III both finished with 13 points each. Harraway (4-for-8 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 3-for-4 FT) added two rebounds, while Cummings III (4-for-7 FG, 5-for-8 FT) added seven rebounds.

"Cobey hit some huge shots for us in regulation and OT, which was a big help," said Parks on Harraway.

Gobovic rounded out the order as he finished with 11 points (4-for-7 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), five rebounds (three offensive), one assist and three blocks.

"Djordje had a solid game defensively," said Parks on Gobovic. "He's definitely a very intense player where he fits when we need him in order to beat a team like Tallahassee and he showed it tonight." 

White (seven points, five rebounds, one assist and four steals), Bell (five points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal), Agwa (four points, two rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal) and Moss (four points, one rebound, one assist and a steal) also contributed in the win over TCC.

Notes:

Weathers 39 points put him at 433 and needs 567 to reach the milestone of 1,000 points in his career.

Other Southern Scores:

RV Indian River State (2-1) fell to Tallahassee CC (1-0) 89-82 in their hosted classic before defeating Daytona State 109-72. The Pioneers will face Florida State College at Jacksonville Tuesday, November 9.

Hillsborough (0-1) fell to Santa Fe College (2-0) 84-82 in their season opener this past Wednesday. The Hawks will take on Pasco-Hernando State (2-1) Wednesday, November 10.

#3 FSW (1-1) opened their season at home defeating Victory Rock Prep 146-51. It was the most points in the Buccaneers school history. They would then get upset by Santa Fe by a score of 83-81. They will face St. Pete (2-0) Tuesday, November 9.

Upcoming Southern Conference Games (11/9-11/13):

11/9:

#3 FSW vs SPC

RV Indian River State vs Florida State College at Jacksonville

11/10:

HCC vs Pasco-Hernando State

Miami Dade vs Miami Sports Academy

11/12:

MDC vs Santa Fe

HCC vs Pensacola State

#3 FSW vs TCC

RV Indian River State vs SPC

11/13:

MDC vs TCC

#3 FSW vs Florida State College at Jacksonville

RVIndian River State vs #11 Northwest Florida State

HCC vs Daytona State

Up Next:

The Manatees will return home as they welcome ASA Miami (0-1) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Tuesday, November 9 at 7:30 pm.

4th Herd Readies for Road Trip

Bradenton, Fla - After opening their season at home, the SCF basketball team (0-1) will get their first taste of action on the road in neutral grounds as they travel to Fort Pierce to compete in the two-day Veterans Day Classic, hosted by fellow Southern Conference member RV Indian River State College . The Manatees will take on Daytona State (1-0) Friday night, November 5 at 5:30 pm before taking on Tallahassee CC (-) Saturday afternoon, November 6 at 2 pm. They will not face Indian River State College until January 8, 2022.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a 98-84 loss over rival Polk State at home to open the season.

New Debuts:

The Manatees saw the debuts of seven newcomers: Djordje Gobovic, Cobey Harraway, Sam Faraday, Ametri Moss, Clearance Cummings III, Pierre-Gabriel Gouffran and Jacari White. Moss and Cummings III were in the starting lineup, while Gobovic, Harraway, Faraday, Gouffran and White played off the bench.

Moss had 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and steal, while Cummings III, a sophomore transfer from conference member Hillsborough (HCC) had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Pop Goes 1,000:

For James "Pop" Weathers, he is looking to become the second person under the Parks era to reach 1,000 career points. Weathers has 394 so far after his 24 point game against Polk State and needs 606 to reach the milestone.

Scouting Daytona State:

The Falcons are lead by first-year head coach Joey Cantens, a former assistant coach for Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), are coming off opening their season at home with a 87-55 win over Mid-Florida Academy. They finished last season 7-12 overall with a 6-9 record in the Central Conference

Freshman Ky Stattmann lead the way offensively with 23 points, three rebounds and two steals, while sophomore Johan Crafoord, a transfer from Iona College, had 22 points and eight rebounds.

Scouting Tallahassee:

The Eagles finished last season 19-3 overall with a 13-3 record in the Panhandle Conference. They are lead by head coach Rick Cabrera, who enters his first year as head coach.

Primarily, the Eagles team is majorly freshmen and transfers, including four NCAA DI transfers.

Series History:

The Manatees are currently 0-5 against both teams.

4th Herd Falls in Season Opener

Bradenton, Fla- The SCF basketball team (0-1) officially opened their season at home at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. Unfortunately, the Manatees fell in their home opener to Polk State (1-0) losing by a score of 98-84. With the loss, the Manatees are now 14-19 against the Eagles.

The first half saw the Eaglees open the doors with a 3-pointer until sophomore Kwo Agwa hit the first points for the Manatees with a 3-pointer of his own before the Eagles took a 10-0 run before Parks called time-out. The Eagles would take the first half 45-31.

Side Note: Head Coach Tom Parks was not able to comment.

In the second half, the Manatees started to mount a comeback as they eventually took their first lead, but costly miscommunication for them ended up with them losing steam as the Eagles sealed the deal for the win.

In the end, it was sophomore James "Pop" Weathers that lead the Manatees offensively as he finished with 24 points (10-for-19 FG, 6-for-6 FT), two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Classmate Clearance Cumming III followed with 11 points (2-for-6 FG, 6-for-13 FT), five rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal, while freshman Ametri Moss rounded out the order with 10 points (5-for-6 FG), four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Freshmen Jacari White and Cobey Harraway each had nine points. White (2-for-12 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 2-for-3 FT) added four rebounds (three offensive) and two assists, while Harraway (1-for-4 FG, 6-for-7 FT) added two rebounds and one assist.

Agwa and sophomore Javon Bell finished with eight points each. Agwa (3-for-7 FG, 2-for-4 3PT) added five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal, while Bell (2-for-4 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added two rebounds and a steal.

Freshmen Djordje Gobovic (three points, one rebound and one assist) and Pierre-Gabriel Gouffran (two points) also contributed for the Manatees.

Redshirt sophomore Tommie Lewis lead the Eagles with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench, while sophomore Freddie Word and Eric Butler had 19 points. Butler was 5-for-6 at the 3-point line.

Sophomore Keenon Cole rounded out the order for the Eagle with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Notes:

This was the debuts of Cummings III, Moss, White, Carraway, Gobovic, Gouffran and freshman Sam Faraday. Cummings joined the team after transferring from Hillsborough Community College (HCC).

The 24 points for Weathers put him at 394. He needs 606 to reach 1,000 career points and the second under the Parks Era.

Up Next:

The Manatees will get their first taste of action on the road as they head to Fort Pierce to compete in the two-day Veteran's Day Classic (November 5-6), hosted by conference member Indian River State. They will face Daytona State (1-0) at 5:30 pm and Tallahassee CC at a time to be announced.