"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).
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