"I thought we had some ups and downs, which is a part of basketball," said head coach Tom Parks. "There's a lot of runs from both teams in basketball and we took a few of them in this game with an early lead to set the tone defensively and adjusted to it by halftime. It was a fun second half of both teams going back and forth in lead changes, so I'm just trying to worry about results so much and try to enjoy each practice, game and possession and I felt this was an enjoyable basketball game to witness."
"We did great and stuck together as a team," said Grady. "We really meshed together really good and not let each other feel down and play hard."
"I think we did a lot better moving the ball around when we were struggling with it at first," said sophomore Sky Wicks. "After that we just had a big change after our last win and we just turned our whole mindset around and that was really important."
"I think the team did great," said redshirt freshman Zach Smith. "These types of games that we keep having test our character. Honestly, we had a few leads and we blew it a bit, but we still fought. It could have been so bad for us but we came back and fought to the end and I'm proud of how we did."
The first half started off in the Manatees favor as they started a 12-0 run in the first three minutes. The Manatees would go up by as much as 16 points before the Titans cut the deficit and tied everything up in the first half at 52 apiece.
At the start of the second half, both teams would exchange shots before the Titans took their first lead of the half before going up by as much as nine points. With seven minutes left, the Manatees started to come back with putback shots from Grady as both teams exchanged leads before the Titans remained in the lead 86-84 with 13 seconds left.
As the Titans inbounded the ball, the Manatees took advantage of a crucial mistake as Wicks stole the ball and dished it to an open Cobey Harraway as the sophomore took the ball to the hole and secured a game-tying layup to make it 86 apiece. In a last chance effort, Smith attempted to score a game-winning 3-pointer from the wing, but it went to no avail and sent the game into overtime.
At the start of overtime, the Manatees began with a layup from Smith before Harraway secured a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 91-87 before the Titans cut the lead by two before Grady secured an and-one.
In the final two minutes of overtime, the Titans would make a costly mistake as they committed a technical foul that forced Wicks to shoot one of two free-throws to make it 94-92 before the Titans took the lead with a 3-pointer with 1:13 left in overtime, but a Wicks layup and a crucial rebound by Harraway lead Wicks to the free throw line to shoot two free throws in success.
With 20 seconds left, the Titans tried to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but to no avail as Wicks secured the rebound and went to the free throw line again to make both before Grady sealed it with a dunk before the game ended.
"We were up and trying to get some good shots and rebounding while taking advantage of their (SPC) bad shots and fouls," said Wicks on overtime. "It was a big part of the game plan for us."
"Overtime felt like a dog fight for us," said Grady on overtime. "It just whoever wanted it more was going to get it and we kept fighting and didn't let up and kept pushing."
Three Manatees scored in double figures. It was Wicks that lead the way as the former Missouri State University transfer finished with 19 points (4-for-9 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 9-for-10 FT), two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
"I thought I did well, even if there's some steps to improve on," said Wicks on his performance. "I did well on my free throws early on and it was a big improvement."
Harraway and Grady would each finish with 16 points apiece. Harraway (5-for-9 FG, 3-for-6 3PT, 3-for-4 FT) added three rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Grady (7-for-9 FG, 2-for-4 3PT) added six rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block.
"I felt like we were practicing hard with the guys pushing me in practice and vice versa," said Grady on his performance. "I thought I did good and I just kept up the momentum while listening to my coaches."
"Kash Grady was the turning point for us in this game," said Parks on Grady "There was a lot of emotion of what I wanted to say and it came back from the fact we wouldn't win a game without him. The rebounds, energy and deflections he made down the stretch earned him a lot of respect from me in the course of this game. I feel he is someone who has struggled to find his way on the team and what he could do to earn minutes and help our team. Tonight, he told everyone what he did with his playing because the physical thing about today was a lot of his points came at will off of the rebound and I was just really proud of him for all the sacrifices he has made with his intensity."
Sophomore Isaiah 'Ziggy' Josue and freshman Josh Ijeh rounded out the order with nine points each. Josue (3-for-9 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added three rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Ijeh (4-for-6 FG, 1-for-2 FT) added five rebounds and one block.
Smith lead all the Manatees with five assists to go along with six points, three rebounds and two steals.
"We were learning in practice on getting to transitions," said Smith. "I thought we practiced that really well and pushed the pace for us."
Sophomore Ronnail Tape (eight points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block) and freshmen Dresean Knight (eight points, five rebounds and three steals) and Elijah 'Slim' Terry (seven points, two rebounds and three assists) also contributed in the game.
For the Titans, Jaden Enzomo lead the way with 24 points (11-for-19 FG) and nine rebounds off the bench, while Josh Meo followed with 20 points (7-for-10 FG, 6-for-9 3PT).
Notes:
Wicks, Grady and Smith are the first players to be interviewed for the 2022-23 season.
Other Southern Conference Scores:
Hillsborough (6-0) defeated Santa Fe College (3-1) 95-81. The Hawks will take on Polk State (2-2) Friday afternoon, November 18.
RV Indian River State (5-1) were upset by Daytona State (6-0) by a score of 111-101. The Pioneers will take on St. Pete Saturday afternoon, November 19 at 2 pm.
Up Next:
The Manatees return on the road for their next game as they travel to Gainesville for a rematch against Santa Fe College Saturday afternoon, November 19 at 4 pm.
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