5th Herd Readies for Challenging Home Weekend

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (6-4) will set their sights on another challenging weekend at home as they welcome Polk State (4-4) Friday night, December 2 at 7 pm and Gulf Coast State (8-3) Sunday afternoon, December 4 at 1 pm.


Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a claiming an 88-5 win over St. Pete College to take the series. This would be their first non-conference sweep of the season.

Continuing to lead the offense for the Manatees is sophomores Skylar Wicks and Cobey Harraway. Wicks is currently averaging 20.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, three assists and 2.5 steals per game, while Harraway is averaging 15.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Against SPC, Wicks had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Harraway had 11 points, two rebounds and three assists.

On the assist game with Wicks, sophomore Isaiah 'Ziggy' Josue and freshman Malyk Rebetez lead way. Josue is averaging 3.6 assists per game to go along with 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds, while Rebetez is averaging 4.1 assists per game to go along with 3.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Josue had five points and three assists against SPC, while Rebetez had a game-high seven assists to go along with two points, two rebounds and two steals.

Solid Defenders:

For the big men in the game, sophomore Ronnail Tape and freshmen Dresean Knight, Josh Ijeh and Elijah 'Slim' Terry lead the path for blocking and/or rebounding.

Tape is averaging 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. The native of Fort Myers had nine points and three rebounds against SPC.

Knight, who plays primarily as a backup center, is averaging 3.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. He had eight points, one block and three rebounds against SPC.

Ijeh, the primary starting center, is averaging 5.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The native of Milton Keynes, England had nine points and two rebounds last game.

Terry is more the hybrid defensive player. The native of Enterprise, Alabama is averaging 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Last outing, Terry had five points and eight rebounds in the game.


Wild Cards:

Sophomore Ametri Moss, redshirt freshman Zach Smith and freshmen Kasheem Grady 'Kash' and Shawn Lefrense are the wildcard players of the team.

Moss, who returned to the rotation after missing the first six games due to a thumb injury, is averaging 3.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while adding eight points, seven rebounds and four assists against SPC.

Smith is averaging 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He was held scoreless, but added two rebounds and three assists against SPC.

Grady, who plays a key role off the bench, had eight points and three rebounds against SPC. The Georgia native averages six points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Lefrense, a local and walk-on playing this season is averaging 1.7 points per game. Against SPC, the product of Port Charlotte High School had five points and one rebound.

Schedule Tweak:

Originally on the schedule, the Manatees were supposed to face ASA Miami on Saturday, December 3, but the game was cancelled. Thankfully, head coach Tom Parks was able to schedule a new game with Gulf Coast State.

Scouting Polk State:

The Eagles are coming off of 111-65 Loss against Florida Southwestern. They were one of the other two teams Florida that competed in the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic last week.

Sophomore George Pridgett is averaging 17.2 points and 2.7 assists per game. The transfer from Jacksonville University had 14 points and one assist against FSW. He is the only Eagle averaging double digit scoring.

On defense, sophomore Ashton Howard is averaging 8.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Howard was held scoreless with four rebounds.

Overall, the Manatees are 13-20 against the Eagles, which includes the 71-65 loss earlier in the season.


Scouting Gulf Coast State:

The Commodores are enter the contest on a two-game winning streak after recently defeating Florida Coastal Prep by a score of 143-44. Prior to playing SCF, the Commodores will face FSW Saturday afternoon, December 3 at 2 pm.

Six players are averaging in double digit scoring. Sophomore Chase Forte is leading the team averaging 18.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. In fact Forte, a transfer from UNC Asheville, is ranked tied #7 in the nation in assists per game. He had a double-double of 26 points and 10 assists.

Classmate Alex Matthews, a transfer from the University of Evansville, is averaging 15.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while sophomore Tay Hall (Miami Dade) is averaging 13.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Matthews had 17 points, six steals and three rebounds, while Hall had 18 points, six rebounds and three assists against Florida Coastal Prep

Overall, the Manatees are 0-2 against the Commodores.


How to Keep Up:

Both games will air on the SCF Sports Network and fans can keep up with both teams on all social media platforms.

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

Social Media:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SCFMensBasketball

Twitter - https://twitter.com/SCF_Basketball

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/scfbasketball/

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