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/
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