SCF Athletes: Where Are They Now? (2018-19)

While I got to meet many of the SCF athletes from the 2018-19 school, I was always curious to know where are they now and here's where we begin. As far as what I know, these are the athletes I know for sure where they are going.

Men's Basketball:
The Manatees finished 18-15 overall with a 6-6 record in the Suncoast where they won the Suncoast Conference Tournament and qualified for the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time since 2012-13. On the team, there were nine sophomores on the team: DeAndre Osuigwe, Tre Alexandrea, Corey Davis, Cyrus Barnes, Joel, Coffey, Dylan Porter, Miles Wilson, Clarence Miles and Shelby Rhodes.

Osuigwe: A rare pass-first guard, Osuigwe has committed to playing for the University of Alaska-Anchorage (NCAA DII) with his final two years of eligibility remaining, so he will be listed as a double transfer. The Seawolves finished last season 14-14 overall with a 9-11 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

Osuigwe spent his freshman year at Nyack College (NCAA DII) where he averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 25 games with 16 starts before transferring to SCF for his sophomore. As a Manatee, Osuigwe averaged 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while being named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Alexandrea: Alexandrea will be attending Thomas University (NAIA) in Thomasville, Gerogia with two years of eligibility remaining. The Night Hawks finished 13-13 overall with a 9-9 record in the Sun Conference.

Alexandrea began his collegiate career at SCF averaging seven points, 3.3 rebounds and five assists per game. After redshirting his sophomore year due to injury, Alexandrea finished his redshirt sophomore year with 9.2 points and 4.4 assists per game while joining Osuigwe on the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Davis: For Davis, he will be attending Keiser University (NAIA) as a double JUCO transfer with two years of eligibility remaining, Last season, Keiser went 15-14 overall with an 11-7 record in the Sun Conference. In their exhibition game against Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), the Seahawks fell 87-85, but gave the Eagles quite a scare. The Seahawks fell in the quarterfinals of the Sun Conference Tournament

Davis spent his freshman year at Columbia College (CCCAA) in Sonora, California where he averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while helping the Jumpers to a 17-8 overall record with an 11-3 record in the Central Valley Conference. As a member of SCF, Davis averaged 2.8 points per game, which included a season-high 12 points against Impact Academy.

Barnes: Barnes will continue his basketball career at Lindenwood University (NCAA DII) in St. Charles, Missouri with two years of eligibility remaining. The Lions finished 16-16 overall last season with a 9-10 record in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MAIA) where they fell in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

Barnes began his collegiate basketball career at SCF averaging 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Upon the arrival of head coach Tom Parks, Barnes' stats started to skyrocket up as he averaged 9.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while joining Alexandrea and Osuigwe on the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Coffey: Coffey will be attending Webber International (NAIA). Coffeey averaged 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore for SCF. Coffey will have two years of eligibility remaining upon arrival to Webber. The Warriors finished 13-17 overall with a 4-14 record in the Sun Conference.

Porter: Porter will be attending the University of Florida, but not as a member of the Gators basketball team. Porter played in four games and averaged 1.3 rebounds per game.

Miles: Miles will be attending St. Thomas University (NAIA) in Miami Gardens with two years of eligibility remaining. Last season, the Bobcats finished 11-16 overall with a 10-8 record in the Sun Conference where they made the postseason before falling in the quarterfinals of the Sun Conference Tournament.

The three point specialist averaged four points per game and had a team-leading 41% shooting percentage behind the arc. In one of his best games, Miles scored a career-high 29 points against Impact Academy while going 9-for-16 behind the arc.

Like Porter, Rhodes and Wilson will also be going to school only.

Volleyball:
After volleyball finished 6-25 with an 0-6 record in the Suncoast, the two sophomores on the teams, Bethany Bonville and Gabriella Valdez-Perez, have decided not to continue playing collegiately, while another two players were able to transfer and continue where they left off: Fatima Rajaee and Nikoleta Kandic.

Rajaee has transferred to Florida Memorial University (NAIA) as a sophomore with her remaining three years of eligibility. As a freshman for SCF, Rajaee, a defensive specialist from Orlando, finished with 239 digs and 16 aces with the Manatees. The Lions finished 11-15 overall with a 4-12 record in the Sun Conference.

Kandic transferred to another junior college, Indian Hills Community College. The native of Belgrade, Serbia, who plays as an outside hitter, had 274 kills, 17 aces and 47 blocks (12 solo) with the Manatees.

The Warriors finished last season 18-16 overall with a 3-1 record in conference play.

Softball:
Seven sophomores have graduated as well as freshman Kailey Christian transferring: Megan Seeds, Nicci Palumbo, Haley McFadden, Cheyenne Nunez, Kyria Holcomb, Madison Yoder and Sydney Parks.

Christian: Because of her high academic scores at the NJCAA level, Christian will be transferring to Delaware as a sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Hens finished last season 22-29 with a 7-11 record in the Colonial League, but did not make it to the postseason.

Known for throwing three types of riseballs, Christian finished her freshman campaign on the mound with 22-4 record, 2.19 ERA and 196 strikeouts while batting a team-leading .366 with a home run and 36 RBI. Christian was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team, Suncoast All-Academic Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team in the end.

Palumbo: Palumbo will be attending Florida Atlantic (FAU) but not for softball. With a knee injury plaguing a big part of the season, Palumbo still manage to finish her sophomore campaign with a .364 batting average and 11 RBI. Palumbo was named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

McFadden: McFadden will continue her softball career at Warner University (NAIA) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Lions are coming off of finishing last season 28-16 overall with a 12-12 record in the Sun Conference where they finished 2-2 in the Sun Conference Tournament

McFadden will join fellow redshirt senior and former Manatee Kayleigh Walters. She batted .313 with two home runs and 31 RBI while being named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team.

Nunez: Nunez will continue her softball career at USC Upstate with two years of eligibility remaining. The Spartans finished 41-15 last season with a 18-6 record in the Big South before finishing 1-2 in the Big South Championship Tournament.

Nunez finished her sophomore campaign batting .360 with a home run, 27 RBI and 38 stolen bases, while joining Christian and Seeds on the All-Suncoast First Team. Nunez broke the single season record for most stolen bases on March 27.

Yoder: Yoder will be attending USF, but not for softball. Yoder batted .200 with four RBI while being named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

Tennis:
After finishing 6-7 overall with a 4-6 record in the Region 8 Conference, four sophomores have moved forward and graduated from the SCF tennis team: Sara Jamal, Camile Portalier, Laura Illanes-Rodriguez and Diarra Thomas. Freshman Zeba Jamal will also be transferring

Sara Jamal: Sara will be attending Presbyterian College in Clemson, South Carolina with two years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Hose finished last season 17-7 overall with a 7-2 record in the Big South before falling in the conference quarterfinals.

Jamal finished 8-9 in singles (#2 singles) and 8-10 in doubles (#1), primarily playing with now sophomore Sara Ramirez-Goncalves. Prior to SCF, Sara played for Southern Methodist where she recorded eight victories in doubles play and three wins in singles play.


Illanes-Rodriguez: Illanes-Rodriguez will join Nunez to represent SCF as she continues her collegiate tennis at USC Upstate with two years of eligibility remaining. The Spartans finished the season 4-19 overall with a 2-7 record in the Big South before falling in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Illanes-Rodriguez finished her sophomore campaign 10-7 overall at #6 singles while being named the 2019 Vicki Schnurr Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Thomas: Primarily playing at #3 doubles, Thomas has decided to continue her tennis career at Coppin State in Baltimore. She will join the Eagles with two years of eligibility remaining. Coppin State finished 2-14 overall with a 1-4 record in the MEAC before falling in the first round of the MEAC Conference Tournament.

Predominantly playing with now sophomore Britain Botsford, Thomas was 10-8 in doubles, which included three combined wins at the FCSAA State Tournament (1) and the NJCAA National Tournament (2). Thomas was also 2-2 in singles action.

Zeba Jamal: Zeba will be attending Jacksonville State University in Alabama with three years of eligibility remaining. The Gamecocks finished last season with a 14-4 overall record and a 7-1 record in the Ohio Valley Conference where they fell in the semifinals of their conference tournament.

As a freshman at SCF, Zeba finished her career there with a 5-11 overall record in singles (#1 singles) and 13-8 in doubles with Portalier.

Portalier: Portalier will continue her playing career at the University of West Georgia (NCAA DII) with two years of eligibility. The Wolves finished last season with a 7-11 overall record with 2-9 record in the Gulf South Conference.

Portalier finished her sophomore campaign with a 7-10 overall record at #4 singles and a 13-8 record in doubles with Zeba Jamal. Portalier and Zeba Jamal claimed the NJCAA Flight 2 Consolation Doubles Championship.

Baseball:
After finishing 38-20 overall with a 20-11 record in the Suncoast, 15 sophomores have moved forward on their careers after graduating: Brian Dillingham, Shane Shifflett, Josh Bonynge, Josh Crouch, John Shields, Giovany Lorenzo, Corey Ireson, Bryce Hulett, Collin Moore, Cole Beavin, Hunter Perdue, Chris Holcomb, Brock Bell and Aaron Brown.

Dillingham: After finishing his redshirt sophomore campaign, Dillingham will be transferring to Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Raiders finished last season with an 18-37 overall record and an 11-19 in Conference USA.

As a freshman, Dillingham finished with a .299 batting average with a home run and 16 RBI. After redshirting for the 2018 season due to injury, the Bradenton native and product of Braden River finished his sophomore campaign batting .332 with three home runs, 21 RBI and team-leading 23 stolen bases.


Shifflett: Shifflett will return to the SEC for his baseball career as he will be transferring to the University of South Carolina with two years of eligibility remaining. The Gamecocks finished last season 28-28 overall with an 8-22 record in the SEC. They did not make it to the postseason.

Prior to transferring to SCF, Shifflett began his collegiate baseball career at SEC foe Florida. There he batted .256 with seven RBI in 22 games. The Englewood native then decided to transfer to SCF where he batted .330 with five home runs and 23 RBI. As a result, he was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team before signing with South Carolina.

Crouch: Crouch will be attending the University of Central Florida (UCF) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Knights finished their season 36-22 overall with an 11-13 record in the AAC. The Knights would fall in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament.

Playing all two years at SCF, Crouch finished his sophomore campaign batting .286 with five home runs and 25 RBI. Crouch was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team twice.

Shields: Shields will continue his collegiate baseball career at Lipscomb University with two years of eligibility remaining. Lipscomb finished last season 30-25 overall with a 14-10 record in the A-SUN. They would be eliminated from the A-SUN Tournament after two losses.

Shields transferred mid-year from Alabama and began his freshman year at SCF where he batted .347 with a home run and 19 RBI, but by sophomore year, Shields' batting average dropped to .174 with a home run and eight RBI. Nevertheless, Shields was still named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

Lorenzo: Another player going to a rival school of FGCU, Lorenzo will be attending Stetson University with two years of eligibility remaining. The Hatters finished last season 27-32 overall with an 11-12 record in the A-SUN while hosting the A-SUN Tournament before falling to Liberty in the championship.

A native of Fort Myers, Lorenzo began his collegiate baseball career as a freshman at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach. There he batted .246 with 21 RBI before transferring to SCF. As a sophomore, Lorenzo batted .319 with three home runs and 44 RBI. He was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team.

Ireson: Ireson will be transferring to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Owls finished last season 41-21 overall with a 22-8 record in Conference USA. They would fall in the C-USA Championship to Southern Miss and were named runner-up as a result, however, they would make it to the NCAA National Tournament as an at-large bid while competing in the Athens Regional where they finished 1-2.

Ireson began his collegiate baseball career at Charleston Southern University where he went 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA and 14 strikeouts. After transferring to SCF, Ireson became an immediate force, going 8-2 with a 1.85 ERA and 91 strikeouts. Ireson was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team.

Hulett: Hulett will continue on at the University of Pittsburgh with two years of eligibility remaining. The Panthers finished last season 21-34 overall with an 8-22 record in the ACC.

Hulett finished last season with a .244 batting average, three home runs and a team-leading 49 RBI.

Moore: A local product, Moore will continue his baseball career at Samford University in Birmingham. The Bulldogs finished last season 41-19 overall with a 19-5 record in the Southern Conference (SoCon) where they went 2-2 in the SoCon Tournament.

Moore finished his sophomore campaign batting .251 with four home runs and 31 RBI. As a result, Moore was named a member of the FCSAA All-Tournament Team.



Perdue: After two seasons with SCF, Perdue will be transferring to Florida State with two years of eligibility remaining. The Seminoles are coming off of a 42-23 record with a 17-13 record in the ACC. They would win the ACC Tournament and make it to the National Tournament where they won the Athens Regional in Athens, Georgia and the Baton Rouge Super Regional before falling the second round in the College World Series.

As a freshman, Perdue was 10-1 with a 3.97 ERA and 74 strikeouts. Last season, the native of Chesapeake, Virginia went 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts before being shutdown after his game against South Florida State.

Holcomb: Another mid-transfer from Alabama, Holcomb will be transferring to Tulane with two years of eligibility remaining. Tulane finished last season 32-26 overall with a 12-11 record in the AAC before falling in the AAC Tournament.

After transferring from Alabama, Holcomb finished his sophomore campaign with a 2-3 record with one save, 2.08 ERA and 46 strikeouts.

Bell: Following the footsteps of his older brother, Bell was drafted to the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round (227th overall pick) in the MLB Draft. Bell finished his sophomore campaign 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Brantley, Bell's older brother, was selected in the 11th round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds and is currently playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati's Double-A Team). Bell was the only Manatee to be drafted for 2019.

Brown: Brown has decided to continue his collegiate baseball career and will join Dillingham at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) with two years of eligibility remaining. Prior to SCF, Brown began his freshman year at Vanderbilt where he went 1-0 with a 5.93 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 games of relief. After transferring to SCF, Brown went 9-3 overall with a 3.79 ERA and 101 strikeouts. Brown joined Ireson, Shifflett, Dillingham and Lorenzo on the All-Suncoast First Team and joined Ireson on the FCSAA All-State Second Team.

I'm proud of everyone of these athletes and what they've done for SCF. Now the next wave comes in and it's sure going to be a good one.

SCF Basketball: FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 tournament Preview

The SCF basketball team (18-14) are now on to their next destination the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 tournament at the College of Central Florida (CCF) Patriot Gym in Ocala, Florida. The Manatees will face Eastern Florida State College (24-6) on Thursday, March 7 at 8 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of history as they claimed the Suncoast Conference Tournament Championship with a 103-96 comeback win against Polk State to advance to the state tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 year.

2012-13 Manatees:
In the 2012-13 season, the Manatees were led by Brock Erickson, the current associate head coach for Bryant University. Erickson led the Manatees to the 2013 Suncoast Conference Tournament title and qualified for the state tournament for the third time in 15 years before becoming assistant coach at Iona College for four seasons prior to Bryant.

On the 2012-13 team is a list of the roster and where they went after SCF:
Larry Keys
Denzel Myers (DII Lander University)
Dauntae Johnson (Then USCAA Florida National University)
Michael Sanchez (NJCAA Broward College followed by DII Concord University)
Anders Haas (Albany, transferred DII Barry University followed by SISU Copanhagen)
Obinna "Obi" Oleka (Arizona State followed by St. John's Edge (Canada))
Isaiah Williams (Iona followed by Union Neuchâtel Basket (Switzerland))
Stone Hollaway (UNF)
Brian Cobb (DII Eckerd College)
Savad Garner (DII Barry)
Devon Hodges

Tournament Breakdown:
The tournament is single elimination with the top two teams in their respected conferences:
#1 FSW - Suncoast
SCF - Suncoast
 #8 Northwest Florida State - Panhandle
#9 Chipola - Panhandle
#18 Eastern Florida State - Mid-Florida
#21 Daytona State - Mid-Florida
RV Palm Beach State - Southern
Indian River State- Southern

The winner between SCF and#18 EFSC will play the winner between RV Palm Beach State or #11 Chipola in the semifinals. Although, Chipola could get a possible at-large bid in the national tournament from their ranking.

The winner of the tournament will qualify for the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas as a representative for NJCAA Region 8.

#1 FSW is the highest seed in the tournament and ranked #1 in the nation, but say for example, they lose in the semifinals of the tournament against Daytona State or NWFS, then what would happen? Well regardless if they win or lose the tournament, FSW will end up in the national tournament as an at-large bid. In fact, NWFS and Chipola could possibly be listed as at-large bids too based on their rankings.

Defending the NJCAA National Championship is South Plains from NJCAA Region 5/Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAA). South Plains, who is currently ranked tied for #9 in the nation with Chipola, won the 2018 NJCAA National Championship after defeating NJCAA Region 18/Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) Southern Idaho 98-95. It was their second title they won (first in 2008).

Suncoast Awards:
Prior to the tournament, the Suncoast Conference presented awards and accolades for the players.

Suncoast Player of the Year:
The Suncoast Player of the year was presented to FSW's sophomore Charles Manning. Manning is averaging 15 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Buccaneers.

Suncoast Coach of the Year:
FSW would take Suncoast Coach of the Year as it was won by Eric Murphy. Murphy enters his first season as head coach for the Buccaneers

All-Suncoast First Team:
Three Manatees were named to the All-Suncoast First team: freshmen D'Moi Hodge and Isaiah Dasher.

Hodge is averaging 19 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. The native of Tortola, British Virgin Islands that transferred from New Mexico Junior College, had a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds while adding three blocks and four steals against Polk State. Hodge was also named on the FCSAA All-State Team and earned the last weekly awards of being named FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week and NJCAA Player of the Week.

Dasher is averaging 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Dasher had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds while adding five assists in the Suncoast Championship against Polk State.

Other members that joined Hodge and Dasher included the following by teams:

FSW: Manning, sophomore Maddox Daniels and redshirt sophomore Destin Barnes

HCC: sophomores Walter Covington IV and Jeffrey Prophete

Polk State: freshman T.K. Smith and sophomore Alsean Evans

St. Pete: sophomores Daniel Melvin and Gary Jefferson and freshman Anfernee Munnings

All-Suncoast Second Team:
Joining the All-Suncoast Second Team are sophomores Cyrus Barnes, Tre Alexandrea and DeAndre Osuigwe.

Mainly the six man of the team, Barnes is averaging 9.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Barnes had a career-high 24 points against Polk State.

Alexandrea is averaging 9.2 points and 4.5 assists per game. Alexandrea had 11 points against Polk State.

A pass first guard, Osuigwe is averaging 11.3 points and 5.4 assists per game. The Nyack College transfer had 16 points and seven assists against Polk State.

Other members that joined Barnes, Alexandrea and Osuigwe included the following by teams:

FSW: freshmen Terence Lewis II and Keon Ellis and sophomores Tyler Morman and DeShawn Thomas

HCC: sophomores Efstratios Kalogerias and Jacorie Archie and freshman Michael Cole

Polk State: freshman Bernat Vanaclocha

St. Pete: freshman Nathan Johnson

All-Suncoast All-Academic Team:

Nine players were named to the Suncoast All-Academic Team: Alexandrea, Dasher, Hodge, freshmen Remy Robert II, Max Richards and Christnoff Scarborough and sophomores Dylan Porter, Miles Wilson and Shelby Rhodes.

Robert II is averaging 5.3 points per game. In his last game against Florida Gateway, Robert played only five minutes with one steal.

Richards is averaging 2.6 points and two rebounds per game. Richards played four minutes and got one rebound against Polk State.

Mainly backing up sophomore Joel Coffey, Scarborough is averaging 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. In his last championship game against Polk State, Scarborough had seven points, four rebounds and a block.

After missing most of the season due to injury, Porter played in four games and averaged 1.3 rebounds per game.

After bouncing around between being in the starting rotation and bench role, Wilson is averaging five points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Rhodes played in 10 games, averaging 0.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Rhodes had two rebounds and a steal in his last game against FSW.

Scouting Eastern Florida State:
Led by Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year Jeremy Shulman, the Titans, who are ranked #18 in the NJCAA Top 25 Poll, were crowned the Mid-Florida Regular Season Champions after going 10-2 in the Mid-Florida Conference, thus becoming the #1 team in their Conference. In their last season game, the Titans defeated Santa Fe College 77-68 in their last conference game of the season.

Sophomore Jalen Warren (All-Mid-Florida First Team) leads the team offensively for the Titans. Warren, who will be transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) for the 2019-20 season as a junior, is averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 assists per game. The native of Milton, Ontario, Canada had a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists against Santa Fe.

Freshman Jonathan Ned (All-Mid-Florida Second Team) and sophomore Nick Stampley (All-Mid-Florida First Team) also play key roles offensively. Ned is averaging 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while Stampley is averaging 10.8 points and seven rebounds per game. Against Santa Fe, Ned had seven points and seven rebounds while Stampley had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

For SCF head coach Tom Parks, this will be a interesting homecoming for him. Prior to SCF, Parks was the associate head coach for EFSC where he helped lead the Titans to a 30-5 record and a 3rd place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament.

Series History (2012-present):
The Manatees are 0-2 against the Titans. Last time both teams met was on November 17, 2017 where the Manatees fell 110-67 at the FSW Classic in Fort Myers.

How to Keep Up:
The game will be featured livestream on FCSAA's Team One Sports link. The game is free to watch for all fans

Fans can also stay up to date with both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball
EFSC: @EasternFLMBB

Livestream Link: https://team1sports.com/fcsaa/

Suncoast Tournament Champs!!! 1st Herd Punches Ticket to States

The team poses after their win

Emotions ran wild at Hal Chasey Gymnasium, but in the end the SCF basketball team (18-14) pulled off another successful comeback win as they defeated Polk State (14-17) 103-96 in the finals of the Suncoast Conference Championship Tournament. With the win, the Manatees have officially punched their ticket to a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament at the Patriot Gym at College of Central Florida in Ocala, Florida. The Manatees join FSW (28-1) as one of the top two seeds to represent the Suncoast. Furthermore, this will the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Manatees reached the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament.

"I thought that we were the second best team in conference and we deserve to win this," said head coach Tom Parks. "To see everything pan out up to our first meet in August where we talked about our goals including to host at least one conference tournament game and win the tournament and we certainly did that."

In the first half, the Manatees got off to a good start in scoring after a thunderous dunk from freshman D'Moi Hodge, but by the time the Manatees reached double digits, Polk State took advantage of the scoreboard from big 3-pointers from freshman JJ Romer-Rosario, but the Manatees continued to cut the deficit to single digits as the first half ended with Polk State up 41-37.

"Our mentality was just to attack and push the ball," said Parks on halftime. "I'm an offense-oriented coach and we didn't play any defense tonight, but we talked about really pushing the pace and our bye week was this Saturday, so we played Monday while everyone else played Saturday, Monday and Tuesday and we thought it was a huge advantage for us, especially when Polk State had to travel all the way here, so we just talked about continuing to push the pace, not watching the scoreboard and keep chipping away at them. Down the stretch, it was all about getting stops, which we talk about every timeout."

"During halftime, Parks told us just to be calm and think positive even we're down by five points," said sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe. "I think the last two to three times we played them, they've always been up on us."

At the start of the second half, the Manatees started to buckle as the Hawks manage to get points from Romer-Rosario, freshman TK Smith and sophomores Milz Tatum and Alsean Evans, but the Manatees, who were down by as much as 15 points, continued to fight with 7:13 left on the clock after the timeout. After the timeout, the Manatees managed to eventually tie the game at 71-71 and soon caught took the lead.

"Going into the second half, we knew they were already going to be good and at every timeout," said Osuigwe. "Whenever we got the break, coach motivated us with a lot of positive energy and let us know that we can do this and we got to believe."

"We struggled for a while in the last five minutes, but we did a really good job contesting everything and most of the time it was one shot with the rebound," said Parks on the last five minutes.

The Manatees got big crucial buckets from Osuigwe, Hodge and sophomore Cyrus Barnes, but as they tried to add to the score, the Eagles continued to score on their own leading Parks to a timeout for a chance to make adjustments.

"We changed a little bit on matchups and who was guarding" said Parks on the last timeout. Their smaller guards were doing a really good job in the paint. We said the whole time 'let's have somebody else beat us and not have their main guys do that.' Although I didn't think really think we were gonna open the floodgates to get to the basket. We changed up some matchups, but we just talked about believing and continued to believe, but at the five minute mark, things could have gone either way. We could either stop believing, stop playing hard and let them break it open or we could continue to fight and that's what we were able to do."

"We had to keep our composure together defensively," said Hodge. "We know we can play defense, but we had to be fast and play as one."

"We got a great coaching staff, and whatever defense they (Polk State) throw at us, we always got a play," said freshman Isiah Dasher. "Coach (Parks) is a fast thinker and whenever he wants to switch something up, he always goes towards a timeout so we can get it together."

Parks' words got through the players and worked like a charm. Evidently, Polk made a costly mistake as Tatum committed a technical foul, which gave SCF a few more sparks and soon lead by three and with 22 seconds left, the Eagles had the ball. Romer Rosario was given the ball to tie the game, but it was unsuccessful as Dasher grabbed the board before being sent to shoot one of two free throws.

"We were just trying to finish out the game strong, make free throws and stay solid," said Dasher on the last 20 seconds. "Polk is a great team, so we came out with big win today,"

As Barnes finished with the game with the final two free throws, the Manatees officially punched their ticket in front of overwhelming support of over 100 SCF Maniacs while ending the second half 66-45.

Five players from SCF reached in double figures: Barnes, Hodge, Dasher, Osiugwe, and redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea. Barnes led the team with a career-high 24 points (7-for-10 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 9-for-10 FT).

Hodge and Dasher would finish with a double-double each. Hodge had 22 points (7-for-16 FG, 3-for-9 3PT, 5-for-6 FT) and 14 rebounds to go along with four assists, three blocks and four steals, while Dasher, who began the first half 0-for-6, finished with 16 points (4-for-15 FG, 8-for-13 FT) and 10 rebounds while adding five assists and a steal. 

Osiugwe finished with 16 points (6-for-9 FG, 4-for-5 FT), three rebounds and seven assists, while Alexandra rounded out the order with 11 points (4-for-6 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) and two rebounds.

"I think I did better," said Barnes on his performance. "I could have played more defense, but I did what I needed to do."

"I didn't do how I normally wanted to, but I still hit the shots I normally hit, said Hodge. "I did my best and gave what I got."

"I started off the first half really slow, but I knew it was now or never and do or die," said Dasher on his performance. "I played with everything I had on the court. I knew I wasn't leaving the gym saying 'I could have gave more."

"I did my job on the defensive end and as a leader," said Osiugwe on his performance. "My main goal as a leader is to win. There were some spots where we felt sorry for ourselves, but I had to bring the team together and stay positive to let the team know that we're going to be alright and just keep fighting."

Along with Barnes off the bench, freshman Chris Scarborough finished with seven points (2-for-3 FG, 3-for-3 FT) and three rebounds while sophomore Corey Davis and freshman Max Bell-Ramos had two points each. Bell-Ramos also added two rebounds. Sophomore Joel Coffey, who was in the starting lineup, also contributed with two points, a rebound, a block and a steal.

For Polk State, five players reached double figures in scoring: Evan (25), Smith (18), Tatum (16), Romer Rosario (12) and freshman Nikc Merriweather (10).

At the end of the tournament, the team did a ceremonial cutting of the net for their win and in the locker room, the team doused Parks with a Gatorade bath afterwards.

Emotional Comments:
Parks- "It's a sigh of relief because I believe in this team this year and that we were capable of doing this and they believed in each other."

Hodge- "I'm so happy that I'm loss for words. We came back after being down and everyone had faith in us to win this game.

Dasher- "It's crazy that we put in so much work and it just shows in the outcome and I'm so emotional that I can't even speak."

Barnes- "It's bittersweet because this was my last time playing at SCF and this game was a tough one, but me and the boys did keep fighting to the end."

Osiugwe- "At the start of the game, we wanted to make history, so before the team meeting, everybody down on a piece of paper why we wanted to go to states, so we just made our 'why' and what our 'why' was and stayed together so we can do what we need to do, even if we were in a little slump, but I was able to keep the team together, stay positive and believe."

After interviewing coach Parks, he gave me a piece of the cut net for having me as a part of history and I couldn't be anymore appreciative for what he's done for with SCF basketball.

Up Next:
The Manatees ready themselves for Eastern Florida State (24-6), the #1 team in the Mid-Florida Conference. With that being said, the bracket for the 2019 FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament is set in stone for Thursday, March 7 to Saturday, March 9 at the following times:

Quarterfinals (March 7):
*Game One: #1 FSW (#1 Suncoast) vs Indian River State (#2 Southern) at 1 pm.

*Game Two: #8 Northwest Florida State (#1 Panhandle) vs #21 Daytona State (#2 Mid-Florida) at 3 pm

*Game Three: RV Palm Beach State (#1 Southern) vs #11 Chipola (#2 Panhandle) at 6 pm

*Game Four: Eastern Florida State (#1 Mid-Florida) vs SCF (#2 Suncoast) at 8 pm.

*time subject to change depending on length of game.

Semifinals (March 8):
*Game One Winner vs Game Two Winner at 6 pm

*Game Three Winner vs Game Four Winner at 8 pm

Championship (March 9):
Semi Winner One vs Semi Winner Two at 7:30 pm

SCF Basketball vs HCC: Suncoast Conference Tournament Semifinal Preview

The SCF basketball team (16-14) will now be preparing for the Suncoast Conference Tournament as they host one of two semifinals games. The Manatees will face Hillsborough (15-15) at the Hal Chasey Gymnasium on Monday, February 25 at 7 pm.

Polk State (13-16) will host the other semifinal game and face St. Pete College (16-14) at the Winter Haven Health Center same. The winners of those games will face each other and play at the highest seed's location.

Suncoast Conference Final Standings:
1. Florida Southwestern State (FSW) (28-1, 12-0) * ^
2. SCF (16-14, 6-6) #1
3. Polk State (13-16, 5-7) #2
4. SPC (16-14, 4-8) #3
5. HCC (15-15, 3-9) #4

*Conference Regular Season Champion
#1-4 conference tournament seeds
^ Clinched Playoff Berth

FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men’s Basketball Championship:
The FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men’s Basketball Championship takes eight teams from the top two seeds in the Suncoast, Mid-Florida, Panhandle and Southern Conference. Those eight will then play in an eight team single elimination tournament where the winner and runner-up will punch their tickets to be in the 72nd NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship - known as The Tournament. The Location of the tournament will be held at Patriot Gym at College of Central Florida in Ocala, Florida.

#1 FSW (28-1, 12-0 Suncoast), #21 Eastern Florida State (24-6, 10-2 Mid-Florida), #6 Northwest Florida State (24-4, 10-2 Panhandle) and Palm Beach State (21-7, 9-2 Southern) have won their respected conference championships and a playoff berth in the district championship. #11 Chipola College (25-4, 8-3 Panhandle) also earned a playoff berth, but will be in their conference championship as the #1 seed.

A look at SCF:
The Manatees are coming off of a tough loss to #1 FSW as they fell 91-59 at home on sophomore day for 10 sophomores. Leading the way offensively for the Manatees have been six players: freshmen D'Moi Hodge and Isiah Dasher, sophomores DeAndre Osuigwe and Cyrus Barnes, Clearance Miles and redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea.

Hodge is averaging 18.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 3.1 steals per game. Despite only scoring nine points against FSW, Hodge added seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal to his regime.

Dasher is averaging 16.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Dasher led the team against FSW with 18 points and two rebounds.

Primarily a pass first guard, Osuigwe is averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 assists per game. Osuigwe had four points and seven assists against FSW.

Although he was serving a one-game suspension, Barnes is averaging nine points per game. In his last game against HCC, Barnes had eight points and five rebounds.

Mainly the 3-point specialist, Miles is averaging 3.5 points per game and leads the team in 3-pointers made (31). Against FSW, Miles had six points that were behind the 3-point line.

Alexandrea is averaging 9.3 points and 4.7 assists per game. Alexandrea had 10 points and two assists against FSW.

Scouting HCC:
The Hawks enter the conference tournament as the #4 seed. They finished their last game with an 80-71 win over SPC.

Sophomores Walter Covington IV (15.5), Jeffrey Prophete (13.5), Anthony Jeanty (13.4) and Jacorie Archie (11.8) and freshman Michael Cole (12.7) continue to lead the way for the Hawks in scoring, while sophomore Efstratios Kalogerias is averaging seven points and 9.3 rebounds per game and freshman Joshua Jackson averages 7.8 points and 6.6 assists per game.

Series History (2012-present):
The Manatees are 12-15 against the Hawks and have taken the series, defeating them 93-79 and 104-92 in the first two games before falling 93-88 in the finale.

How to Keep Up:
The game will be livestream on SCF's YouTube page.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball
HCC: @HCCFLAthletics

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpxyXJqcQVkozbVYacR26g/featured

SCF Basketball vs SPC Preview

With three games left in the season, the SCF basketball team (15-12, 5-4 Suncoast) hope to keep their seeding in tact as they welcome back St. Pete College (15-12, 3-6 Suncoast) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium on Valentine's Day at 7 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of a 69-66 win over Polk State in the rubber game and as a result, the Manatees are currently the #2 seed in the Suncoast Conference.

The team is led offensively by freshmen Isiah Dasher and D'Moi Hodge and sophomores DeAndre Osuigwe and Tre Alexandrea.

Dasher is averaging 16.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Dasher finished the game against Polk State with 11 points and six rebounds.

Although he struggled in the game against Florida Gateway with an injury late in the second half, Hodge, who is averaging 18.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, was able to pull it together against Polk State and finished with 19 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block.

Osuigwe is averaging 11.8 points and 5.4 assists per game. Against Polk State, Osuigwe had 11 points, but did not finish with any assists.

Although his point count has been diminishing a bit, Alexandrea remains in tact with his assists. Alexandrea is averaging 9.3 points and 4.6 assists per game. Against Polk State, Alexandrea had six points and six assists.

In fact, two other names that have been trying to put their foots in for opportunities are freshmen Chris Scarborough and Max Bell-Ramos.

Scarborough, who plays primarily as backup for sophomore Joel Coffey, has been a benefactor on the defensive stop. The Clearwater native is averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Against Polk State, Scarborough had a season-high 11 points and five rebounds.

Bell-Ramos has been key in reserve. Bell-Ramos is averaging 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. Against Polk State, the Venezuelan had four points and three rebounds.

Scouting SPC:
The Titans are coming off of a 77-66 loss to #1 FSW and sit in fourth place in the Suncoast. Throughout Suncoast Conference play, the Titans have been swept by FSW so far.

Sophomores Daniel Melvin and Gary Jefferson and freshman William Maloney have led the Titans offensively.

Melvin is averaging 17.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Against FSW, Melvin was held to five points and three rebounds.

Jefferson is averaging 13.2 points per game. Against FSW, Jefferson had points before fouling out.

Maloney is averaging 10.2 points per game. Maloney did not play against FSW.

Series History:
Since 2012, SCF is 5-20 against the Titans. Both teams have split with the Manatees winning 91-82 in the first game (1/9) and SPC winning 78-70 in the second game (1/26), so this will be the rubber game.

How to Keep Up:
The game will  be featured livestream on the SCF Athletics YouTube page. Once the game ends, the video will no longer be available to watch.

Fans can also stay up to date on the teams' Twitter pages:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball

SPC: @SPCMBasketball

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpxyXJqcQVkozbVYacR26g

1st Herd Beats Florida Gateway in Last Non-Conference Game

Wrapping up their last non-conference game, the SCF basketball team (14-12, 4-4 Suncoast) were pushed to their limits as they defeated Florida Gateway (11-16) 85-69 in their first ever matchup.

"These games are always tough to play because you got a team with no pressure coming into it," said head coach Tom Parks. "They're on the road against DI junior college teams and are a new program with one more game after this and we're their last division one JUCO opponent and they're gonna be hungry to win with a lot of good players regardless of any level. They fought and played with a lot of confidence. They were times I even thought we played really good defense and they were still able to make some plays on the stretch and didn't quit on the glass. I give them props because that was a heck of a team and performance on their behalf."

Going into the first half, the Manatees started off slow and were down by 12 points, but after some adjustments, the Manatees were able to take the lead with big help from sophomore Cyrus Barnes, who threw in several dunks to the mix. The Manatees were able to pull away in the first half by a score of 46-37.

As the second half went underway, the Manatees were able to hold the lead for eight minutes, but soon the Timberwolves were able to take advantage of some of the Manatees' mistakes, including personal and technical fouls, and soon took the lead by as much as five points. The damage got worse as freshman D'Moi Hodge buckled on his knee and would not return for the rest of the game. But Parks had other ideas.

"The first 35 minutes, we couldn't get any momentum or go on a run and I told the guys in the last time out with 4:58 left that we haven't got a run all night and this is our run. If we get three stops in a row then we can win the game," said Parks.

And like magic, they did with big stops from Barnes and fellow sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe as they managed to get steals and take advantage of the Timberwolves' bad passes. The Manatees also had a big help offensively as sophomore Clearance Miles pulled up two 3-pointers.

"They had 67 points and then 69, so we held them to two points in the last five minutes, so it was a very impressive defensive effort from the guys that came in and got stops, which was great to see," said Parks on the teams' defense.

In the end, the Manatees managed to regain their composure and put themselves back in the lead. Barnes and freshman Isiah Dasher led the way for the Manatees as they combined for 42 points (Barnes, 20; Dasher, 21). Barnes added four rebounds and a block while Dasher added five rebounds and an assist. Osuigwe and sophomore Tre Alexandra finished with seven points each.

"We came out kind of flat," said Barnes. "We just had people step up after we lost three players due to ejections, fouling out, but we kept going."

"Overall, I thought I did good," said Barnes on his performance. "I got rebounds and did everything I was suppose to do and stayed solid. The only thing I need to do is work on not fouling."

The Manatees not only lost Hodge, but they also lost sophomore Miles Wilson. Wilson finished with six points, four rebounds and a block before being ejected. As a result, Wilson will not dress for the next three games in conference.

One of the players that stepped up big in the second half was freshman Max Bell-Ramos. The Venezuelan, who played briefly in the first half hitting a free throw, came into play and finished with six points and five rebounds.

"I think in the beginning of the game, we were struggling on defense and didn't focus enough in the game," said Bell-Ramos. "But thanks to the players off the bench that came up in the last minutes of the game, we did a good job. I was hoping for coach (Parks) to put me in the game. There were a few games I didn't play in. When two of our players got ejected, I had to step in for the team and I did my job to help the team get the 'W'."

Other players that came into play defensively came from freshman Chris Scarborough and sophomore Joel Coffey. Scarborough added six points, three rebounds and a block while Coffey added two points, a rebound and two blocks. Freshman Max Richards also added three points and four rebounds. Hodge would finish with one point and five rebounds before his knee injury.

Up Next:
The Manatees will head back to Winter Haven to take on Polk State (11-14, 4-4 Suncoast) on Saturday, February 9 at 4 pm.

SCF Basketball Readies for Florida Gateway

The SCF basketball team (13-12, 4-4 Suncoat) will play their last non-conference game as they welcome Florida Gateway College (11-15) to to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Thursday night, February 6 at 7 pm. This will be the first ever matchup between both teams.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of an 86-70 loss to #1 FSW on the road and have yet to beat them.

Offensively, the Manatees are led by the squad of freshmen D'Moi Hodge and Isiah Dasher, redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea and sophomores DeAndre Osuigwe and Cyrus Barnes.

Hodge has been running the floor both offensively and defensively. The native of Tortola, British Virgin Islands is averaging 19.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, three steals and two blocks per game. Against FSW, Hodge had a game-high 34 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and a block.

Dasher is averaging 16.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Against FSW, Dasher was held to four points and one rebound.

Alexandrea is averaging 9.6 points and 4.3 assists per game. In the last four games, Alexandra has scored less than 10 points. Against FSW, the Bradenton native had eight points and two assists.

The main benefactor of assists, Osuigwe is averaging 12 points and 5.5 assists per game. Despite playing off the bench, Osuigwe had 14 points and two assists against FSW.

Although being held to three points against FSW, Barnes is still averaging 8.5 points per game.

Scouting Gateway:

The Timberwolves, who are in Division II team in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8, are coming off of a 91-81 loss to Santa Fe College.

Offensively, freshmen Jaimine Graham, Kenny Brown and Diamond Smith lead the way. Graham is averaging 14.1 points and seven rebounds per game, while Brown is averaging 12.1 points and two assists per game and Smith is averaging 11.5 points per game. Graham had 20 points and nine rebounds against SFC, while Brown had 12 points and three assists and Smith had 28 points.

How to Keep Up:
The game will air livestream on the SCF Athletics YouTube channel.

Fans can keep up on Twitter:

SCF: @SCF_Basketball

Gateway: @FGCathletics

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpxyXJqcQVkozbVYacR26g

SCF Basketball Clips HCC at Home

The SCF basketball team (13-10, 4-3 Suncoast) broke out of their two-game losing skid as they defeated Hillsborough (12-12, 0-6 Suncoast) for the second time this season by a score of 104-92. With the win, the Manatees are 12-14 against the Hawks as of 2011.

"The first thing I told the guys was whether we're at home or away for any conference game, I don't care what the score is because I'm gonna take a win when we can get a win," said head coach Tom Parks. "Obviously, the best region in the country and every conference is loaded and now we got the #1 team (FSW) in the nation in our conference with HCC doing an unbelievable job rebuilding their program as well as Polk State and SPC. Our conference is stacked and anytime we can get a win, we will take one and we're just grinding it out and at the end of the game, we had more points than them and that's what it came down to."

In the first half, it was mainly the defense from freshman D'Moi Hodge that led the first half as the Manatees were up by as much as 18 points before ending the first half 49-35.

In the second half, the Hawks tried to keep up with the Manatees predominantly from sophomores Jeffrey Prophete and Jacorie Archie, but it did little effect on SCF as they manage to pull away with the win.

"In a lot of these wins, there's one or two guys that step up that haven't got their number called, the minutes that they didn't get or the role they're not happy about, but they continue to work and get shots outside of practice while busting their butts," said Parks. "The one guy that comes to mind is Chris (Scarborough)," Parks added on his players. "I love the kid. He's an unbelievable person, great student who works very hard in the classroom and on the court. There were several road trips where he has not played and when we come back from a road trip late at night, he and Max (Bell-Ramos) get in the gym and shoot for hours, which shows that his dedication to the program, belief in me to continue to keep working on his game and being ready for his number to be called. He's stepped up when we needed him to and I couldn't be more happy for him."

Freshman Christnoff Scarborough, who did not enter the game until the second half, finished with with 10 points and two rebounds.

"I think we did well and played really solid," said Scarborough on the team's performance. "We could've rebounded a little better, but overall we were solid. I got rebounds and did what I needed to do. I just try to stay positive even if I didn't play in the first half."

Along with Scarborough, four other Manatees reached double figures in scoring from Hodge, fellow freshman Isiah Dasher and sophomores Cyrus Barnes and DeAndre Osuigwe. Dasher and Hodge had a double-double each. Dasher lead the way with a game-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block, while Hodge also finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. In fact, he was two steals shy of a triple-double as he added eight steals, two assists and a block.

"I felt like I could've played better defense and my rebounding helped my offense, but everyone can score on the team," said Dasher on his performance. "I just need to get better with my defense."

Barnes finished with 18 points (8-for-9 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 3-for-3 FT), which included three monstrous dunks, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Osuigwe finished with 19 points (4-for-9 3PT) and eight assists.

"I felt like I did a solid job," said Osuigwe on his performance. "I just came out to do what I need to do to help get the win. My 3-point shot was really strong tonight, which was really good. When they (HCC) were trying to stop me, I decided to stop and give it to my teammates. It was an easy game today and I just let the game come to me."

Prophete and Archie were the leading scorers for the Hawks. Prophete finished with 21 points while Archie had a game-high 24 points.

Up Next:

The Manatees return to face FSW (22-1, 6-0 Suncoast) on the road again at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena. The Buccaneers are ranked #1 in the nation.

"FSW is very talented, but are probably not the most talented team in the nation, but they play really hard," said Parks on playing FSW. "Their defense is what makes them special. If you look at the other top 25 teams in the nation, there are a lot that can score from really talented players, but they don't play defense and that's what FSW does really well with length, athleticism, size and effort. We just got to move the ball more against them and play more as a team if we want a chance to win the game and be more aggressive on defense. We can't back down even if they are the  #1 team in the nation with all these big-time players, but we got to play our game and realize we lace their shoes up like we do and play on the same court in the same conference and should respect us. We'll continue to work, fight and at the end of the day, win or lose, regardless of what happens in any game, we just want to get better any every single day."

After talking about the performance against HCC, coach Parks gave me this heartfelt response on writing about the team:

"I just want to thank you Pat for doing this because I think it's unbelievable with your passion and the fact that you come and support us every game with your notebook writing stats and how serious you take this. It means a lot to our program and we really appreciate your support and writing about us on your blog. It really means a lot to us."

SCF Basketball Clips Polk State in OT

The SCF basketball team (12-9, 3-1 Suncoast) fought tooth and nail in Suncoast play and were able to pull away with a nail-biting win over Polk State (10-11, 3-2 Suncoast) by a score of 87-85 in overtime. With the win, the Manatees are now 8-16 against the Eagles and their first overtime win this season.

"There was a lot of ups and downs, peaks and valleys and runs from both teams," said head coach Tom Parks. "It was kind of like who is gonna make our last run and the last defensive stance, and I think offensively and defensively we did that down the stretch to be able to force overtime. It's crazy how it happened, but it is and we talked about 'Alright, we get five more extra minutes, the crowd gets five more extra minutes and their moneys worth in our gym.' We had to come out strong the first four minutes of overtime and we did. We let it slip a little bit, but we came out really strong and without that first run, who knows what the outcome will be."

"I think anytime you go into overtime, especially on the road or at home, you did something right," said Parks on the overtime win. "I know a lot of people look at it in a negative way and rather play in regulation and so would I, however, overtime is something that occurs only a hand full of times."

"It was a good game," said freshman D'Moi Hodge. "We started off really slow and some of our starters were in foul trouble."

"It was a tough game," said redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea. "We just wanted to stay in tune and we really wanted this win. They beat us the first time during winter break, so we owed them one and we really wanted to establish that one early and we were gonna play hard. We're coming into February wanting to play our best basketball. We learned from our mistakes in overtime and the first two minutes are big and we wanted to jump on them first."

In the first two minutes, the Eagles were holding onto a 2-0 lead after a hook shot by freshman Bernat Vanaclocha until sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe gave the Manatees the lead with 3-pointer along with a Hodge layup. Another successful layup from Hodge gave the Manatees a 7-2 lead before Polk State head coach Brandon Giles called timeout.

After the timeout and two successful free throws made by sophomore Alsean Evans, Osuigwe would get two successful free throws of his own. Defense continued to help the Manatees on the scoreboard after several steals from Alexandrea and Hodge, a block by sophomore Joel Coffey and several rebounds on the offensive and defensive front to give the Manatees a 13-4 lead.

With the score then 17-6 after a dunk by Barnes and 13 minutes left, the Eagles then took matters into their own hands and pulled off a 6-0 run to cut the Manatees' lead to five until freshman Isiah Dasher brought the lead back by seven.

The Eagles would then get a big push from freshman Tekorian "TK" Smith. Smith, their original starter, would connect with a 3-pointer to cut the Manatees' lead to four while taking advantage of some charges and missed shots before freshman Marlon Suarez cut the deficit by two with two successful free throws before sophomore Miles Wilson brought the lead back to four with two successful free throws of his own.

With the score 23-19 still in favor of SCF, freshman Max Richards would re-extend the lead to seven with a 3-pointer of his own, but freshman Janiel Jafet "JJ" Romer Rosario would cut the deficit to four with a 3-pointer of his own. Smith would then cut the deficit to one after making one of two free throws.

With five minutes left, the Eagles would cut the deficit by one point yet again after a 3-point shot by sophomore Milz Tatum. With less than a minute left in the first half, Smith would score six straight points from two baskets and a free throw before the end of the first half with Polk State leading 43-41.

As the second half went underway, the Eagles began with a layup by Vanaclocha before Hodges drew a foul and hit two free throws, but then Evans shot a 3-pointer to extend the lead to five. Five minutes later, freshman Leighton Elliott-Sewell would hit a 3-pointer for a nine-point Polk, but Alexandrea would not let up after a jumpshot of his own. But as the Manatees tried to cut the deficit, the Eagles continued to extend their lead and the Manatees had to push twice as hard defensively with Alexandrea and Hodge taking the reins, despite Hodge being in foul trouble.

With the score 63-55 Polk State, the Manatees continued to fight with Alexandrea showing his defensive side before cutting the lead to five with a 3-pointer.

"Defensively and offensively, Tre (Alexandrea) really stepped it up," said Parks on Alexandrea. "It was good to see. Tre is not somebody who I recruited and did have the option of not coming back because he was involved in an interview process in terms of leaving and going elsewhere after meeting all the candidates, but when I got the job, he signed the next day and that really showed his faith in me."

"I did get on him hard during a timeout and he responded. He was saying 'Alright coach, I got you' and he just went out and he really started the dominoes falling for our team offensively. We weren't getting much offensively for a stretch and he made that change for us."

"Coach Parks told me to take a better shot," said Alexandrea on Parks' words. "I got fouled and he was mad about it, but it was all good."

The Manatees continued to pound Polk State defensively while trying to cut down the deficit. The Manatees then took advantage of technical foul made by Evans after hanging on the hoop too long making a putback dunk and set up Alexandrea to make one of two free throws to cut the Eagles lead to five before Smith brought it back to seven before Barnes cut it to four after a 3-pointer. Another Alexandrea jumpshot and an Osuigwe steal and pass leading to a Barnes layup cut Polk State's lead to three before a timeout with 7:13 left in the second half. After a charge by Smith and several other fouls by Evans and Wilson, Alexandrea would cut the lead to one with a jumpshot. With the score at 71-69, still in favor of Polk, an Evans foul put Wilson at the free throw line to make one of two free throws before the Eagles took the leads after free throws by Smith and Evans and made it 75-70.

With 1:30 left, the Manatees were finally able to tie the game from a big 3-pointer by Hodge. 14 seconds later after a foul by sophomore Alaowei Talent that sent Wilson to the line, Wilson would give the Manatees the lead after making one of two free throws before Smith brought back the Eagles lead by one. Hodge would bring the Manatees up by two after his second 3-pointer with 28 seconds left before Smith tied the game at 79-79 with 15 seconds left. Hodge would then try to go for the win with another 3-point attempt, but to no avail as the game would go into overtime.

"Coach (Parks) did have faith in me to make that shot," said Hodge on the tying 3-pointer. "And I told him that I will do it and then when I shot it and it went in, I kept myself going."

"I started off real bad in the beginning after missing so many open range mid-point shots, layups and threes," said Hodge on his slow start. "I kept getting down on myself, but I had to keep my head up for the team and keep pushing on the defensive end and that was a big help for the team."

At the start of overtime, both teams tried to get early shot opportunities but to no avail. 35 seconds in, Evans would foul out and be replaced by Suarez. This would send Barnes to the free throw line to make both free throws to give the Manatees the lead. A costly charge by Elliott-Sewell, a basket interference by Vanaclocha and several missed shots that led to a Hodge layup and Osuigwe making one of two free throws for a five-point Manatee lead before Osuigwe extended it to seven with a floater.

With 1:21 left in overtime, Hodge would foul out and be replaced by Dasher, while Vanaclocha missed both free throws.

"D'Moi is one of the best players in the country," said Parks on Hodge. "And it doesn't matter what level he's at. That kid is very special and I told the guys in the locker and said D'Moi is 0-for-19, I'm still gonna run a play with D'Moi to make the game-tying three. That's how much confidence I have in him and he's such an unbelievable person

A block by Barnes and a rebound by Alexandrea were put under pressure by Smith as he went for a successful and-one to cut the Manatees lead to four. After Dasher was fouled and made one of two free throws, Smith would cut the deficit to two points after his third 3-pointer of the game.

With 25 seconds left on the clock, the Eagles went for one more push to try and tie the game to avail, but were given one more try with five seconds left. Barnes would make the steal and give the Manatees the win.

"I felt good tonight," said Alexandrea on his performance. "Coach believed in me to keep shooting the ball and keep attacking defensively. It just felt good."

Offensively, Barnes led the team with 21 points (8-for-11 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 4-for-5 FT) and six rebounds off the bench while Hodge and Alexandrea led the starters in double digit scoring. Hodge finished with 18 points (7-for-20 FG, 2-for-9 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), five rebounds and five steals, while Alexandrea finished with 16 points (6-for-11 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 3-for-4 FT), four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Aside from Hodge, Alexandrea and Barnes leading the way, Dasher and Osuigwe finished with nine points each. Dasher added five rebounds, while Osuigwe added four assists. Coffey finished with two points, two rebounds and a block.

For the players off the Manatees bench, Wilson finished behind Barnes with seven points and three rebounds while Richards finished with three points and two rebounds and freshman Remy Robert II finished with two points.

Smith led Polk State with game-high 31 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Elliott-Sewell finished 15 points and six rebounds. Freshman Nikc Merriweather had four points and a season-high 10 assists. Evans would finish the game with 13 points and six rebounds. 


Up Next:
The Manatees return on the road as they head to St. Petersburg to take on St. Pete College (12-10, 1-4 Suncoast) on Saturday, January 26 at 4 pm before traveling to Ft. Myers to face #2 FSW 21-1, 5-0 Suncoast) Monday, January 28 at 7 pm.

Miles Drains 3s for SCF Basketball Over Impact

Sophomore Clearance Miles made a big impact behind the arc as the SCF basketball team (11-9, 2-1 Suncoast) took a breather from Suncoast Conference play with a 95-65 win over Impact Academy. With the win, the Manatees are now 7-0 overall against Impact (2012-present).

"Our whole mindset going into this game was first we can't look over anybody," said head coach Tom Parks. "We dropped a prep school game our first game of the year and will never look over anyone. We didn't overlook them (Impact), but we definitely never look over any opponent. The second was we wanted to play really really hard, be really unselfish, work the ball and play on both sides of the floor."

Before the game took place, Saturday was dubbed as SCF Alumni Weekend beginning with the inaugural women's tennis scrimmage that featured alum Abby Martinez (2011-13), Mia Popaja (2011-13), Emily Acierno (2014), Miranda Talbert (2013-15) and of course, current head coach Chloe Murphy (2013-14). The alum played in mixed doubles competition against the current team that included sophomores Camile Portalier and Laura Illanes-Rodriguez and freshmen Sara Ramirez-Goncalves and Britain Botsford.

This was followed by the annual SCF Softball Alumni Game with the alumni playing against the current SCF softball team. The alumni that were in attendance included Jaclyn Cokeroft (2012-13), Emma Barlow (2012-13), Ashley Burney (2012-13), Kassidy Neptune (2015-16), Cacey Simmons (2015-16), Nikki Sedivy (2015-16), Alisa Jackson (2015), Kayleigh Walters (2016-18) and Brittany Gilliam (2015-16).

Side Note: Since I was an alum, I even got to be a part of the game on the field and at the plate. I made a couple of good fielding plays and even brought in a run on a fielder's choice.

Later, the SCF baseball hosted their annual alumni game with a few players I know, which included Brad Zunica (2015) and Ronny Orta (2015-16) going against the current team.

Now we turn to the basketball game. Impact opened the floodgates in the first half with a 3-pointer until the Manatees got their first points on the board from a layup by sophomore Cyrus Barnes. After a second Impact 3-point shot made it 6-2, the Manatees would answer with another Barnes layup, which was followed by steal and thunderous dunk by freshman D'Moi Hodge that tied the game at 6-6 before Barnes gave the Manatees an 8-6 lead.

Sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe would extend the lead to 11-6 after a 3-pointer, but another Impact 3-pointer cut the Manatees lead to one by a score of 11-10 before freshman Remy Robert II re-extended the lead to 14-10 before adding a fade-away jump shot, which was followed by an Osuigwe lay up before Impact cut the Manatees' lead to 18-13 before a timeout.

After the timeout and another thunderous dunk from sophomore Miles Wilson, defense was the main reason in the first half from several steals leading to buckets. It was smooth sailing for the Manatees in the first half as they were ahead 48-27.

"There were a couple times when we're having a little bit too much fun, but obviously we all started playing the game of basketball because it's fun," said Parks.

In the second half, the game got really hot. Impact began with a 10-0 run that put the Manatees lead at 48-38. Little did Impact know was that there was a spark growing, but it did not come from the starting lineup though. In fact, the game got hot from the bench, mainly behind the 3-point line from an unexpected source in Miles. In the first half, Miles hit one 3-pointer, which was the only one he had, but when the second half hit, the native of Fredricksburg, Virginia went on an onslaught. After scoring two of his three free throws, Miles went on a shooting spree after his first 3-pointer in the second half five minutes in and continued to get three after three after three. To the end, it was smooth sailing for the Manatees. Miles lead the team off the bench as he finished with a career-high 29 points while going 9-for-16 from the 3-point line.

"I just got hot out there," said Miles. "The team kept feeding me the ball and they're the reason why I scored."

"I never want to take the fun away from our team," said Parks on Miles. "So it was really fun to watch Clearance hit a bunch of 3s. It was even more fun to watch the bench and the teammates react to his threes because that shows you how much we care about each other and how much we want the next man up to do well in the game."

Along with Miles, two other players from the bench lead the Manatees offensively, sophomore Corey Davis and freshman Max Richards. Davis finished behind Miles with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and eight rebounds while Richards added 11 points (5-for-6, 1-for-2 3PT), one rebound and one assist.

"It was pretty intense," said Davis. "We all came out hungry, ready to battle and ready to compete. Coach (Parks) tells us all the time to treat every game like it's your last and every game we play, we play to get better. We don't step to play backwards, we step to play forwards."

From the starters, Hodge finished with six points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals, while Osuigwe finished with seven points and seven assists. Barnes led all starters with eight points and three assists while Robert finished with five points, four rebounds and four assist and sophomore Joel Coffey finished with six points and an assist.

Freshmen Christnoff Scarborough (two rebounds and one assist) and Max Bell-Ramos (seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal) and sophomores Miles Wilson (four points, one rebound and one steal) and Shelby Rhodes (five rebounds and two assists) also contributed in the game.

The Manatees were without redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea and freshman Isaiah Dasher in the starting lineup as they were getting rest due to minor injuries.

Up Next:
The Manatees will resume Suncoast play as they welcome Polk State (10-10, 3-1 Suncoast) Wednesday night, January 23 at 7 pm. The Eagles defeated SCF 96-72 in the opening of Suncoast play.

SCF Basketball Beats SPC at Home in Suncoast Play

The SCF basketball team (9-9, 1-1 Suncoast) opened with their first home Suncoast Conference game of the season as they defeated St. Pete College (10-8, 0-2 Suncoast) in a nail-biting 91-82 victory. With the win, the Manatees are now 5-19 against the Titans (2012-present).

"We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and the score didn't really paint that picture," said head coach Tom Parks. "We had 10 turnovers at halftime, six shots blocked, three bad shots and 10 offensive rebounds to them (SPC), so we left about 19 empty offensive possessions on the board in the first half and gave them 10 extra possessions. The fact that we were down by four was actually a miracle when I told the guys and that was the great thing about it, so it wasn't like the stats led to us being demoralized, it was actually really encouraging that we could play that way and only be down four."

"We came out a little slow in the beginning because we were trading baskets with them," said sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe. "In the second half, we had a little talk in the locker room and coach (Parks) said we had to pick it up, so we came out in the second half picking it up and I had to lead the team, give guys the ball, and drive to the paint because our 3-pointers weren't falling tonight."

The game started with redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea opening the scoreboard with a mid-range, which was followed by a putback layup by freshman Isiah Dasher for a 4-0 SCF lead, but after free throws by freshman Kobie Johnson, a 3-pointer by sophomore Daniel Melvin and a free throw by freshman Keondre Jackson, the Titans took a 6-4 lead before Dasher tied it up with a layup and Hodge gave the Manatees the lead a 3-pointer of his own with 14:47 left on the clock.

The Manatees continued to hold onto the lead for the next three minutes until freshman Anfernee Munnings tied the game with a 3-pointer at 13-13 before freshman Felipe Santos gave the Titans a 16-13 lead after making one of two free throws and a dunk, which put the Manatees on a cold streak for three minutes before sophomore Cyrus Barnes made a layup to stop it to make it 21-15 SPC and cut the deficit to 21-17 after a SPC goaltend call.

With seven minutes left in the first half, the Titans then went on a quick 4-0 run before Osuigwe put up a 3-point shot to cut the lead to five, but as the Manatees tried to add to their score, the Titans would extend the lead until there was 5:34 left when Dasher cut the lead to four from an and-one before a jumpshot by Alexandrea cut the Titans' lead to two.

With 4:15 left and the score 29-25 SPC, freshman Christnoff Scarborough tried cut the deficit to two against with a jumpshot, but the Titans kept added to their score. With 16 seconds left before the end of the first half and the score 36-29 SPC, Barnes would cut the deficit to four with a 3-pointer and end the first half 36-32 SPC.

As the start of the second half went underway, the Titans would get on the board first with six unanswered points and would extend the lead by as much as 12, but little did the Titans know was a comeback was in tact for the Manatees. With 16:30 minutes left and the score 49-37 SPC, freshman D'Moi Hodge would spark some life with a thunderous dunk, which would then be followed by a lay up by Dasher.

Instead of focusing fully on offense, the Manatees adjusted some defense to the mix with a big block by sophomore Miles Wilson and another layup from Dasher from a behind the back assist by Osuigwe, which cut the SPC lead to eight. The Manatees continued their strategy after a dunk by Barnes.

Despite being down between eight to 10 points, the Manatees continued to push the Titans with big help from Wilson and Barnes, and with 11 minutes left Wilson would give the Manatees their first lead of the second half after converting an and-one. After SPC regained the one-point lead after a putback by Santos, Barnes and sophomore Clearance Miles would hit two back-to-back 3-point shots for a 64-61 lead while the Manatees continued to hold on to the lead. A few more free throws and a 3-pointer from Hodge extend the Manatees lead by nine.

With 5:15 left before the end, Miles would add another three to the mix to make it 75-65 SCF. The Titans would try to catch up and cut the deficit to six before a timeout, but it would be to no avail as the Manatees pulled away with the win.

Barnes, who played off the bench, led the team with 23 points (8-for-11 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 5-for-7 FT) and five rebounds, while Dasher and Hodge each finished with 17 points. Dasher added three rebounds, while Hodge added nine rebounds, three assists and seven steals. Hodge returned to the lineup after missing three games due to a knee injury.

"It felt great to be back on the court," said Hodge on returning from injury. "I hated watching from the sidelines and not being able to play, but it felt good to be back on full health and doing what I need to do."

"D'Moi is a special person and special player and can do anything on the floor," said Parks on Hodges' return. "You can put him in any spot to guard any player, he rebounds, passes, can bring the ball up the floor and postup. He's so versatile on both ends of the floor, but when we don't have him, we're missing a really big piece, and he's such an unbelievable kid and is so coachable that he can keep getting better. We're happy to have him back because we're a whole lot better with him."

Osuigwe tied a season-high with 10 assists to go with his five points and four rebounds.

"I was a little off from the 3-point line," said Osuigwe on his performance. "I wasn't really getting to the rim too well and wasn't making too many shots, so when I see that happening, I just started giving my teammates the ball and get in the lane to draw one defender and kick it out. When I start doing that, we start getting greater shots."

In addition, the win was Parks' first win in Suncoast play.

"It feels great and beating St. Pete feels really great," said Parks on his first Suncoast win. "Because they're so tough, scrappy and play so aggressive with a hall of fame coach, so when you combine all those things, being this is my first conference win, it's remarkable and I was really happy for our guys because we didn't want to go to Hillsborough with an 0-2 record in conference. We got a little momentum now and played a lot better today than we did on Saturday, in night and day with two other teams and I'm just very happy about it."

"It felt great," said Osuigwe on the conference win. "Being down by four and coming out to take the lead always feels good. It was real fun."

Wilson, who also played off the bench, tied his season-high with 13 points (4-for-4 FG, 5-for-5 FT) and five rebounds.

"Miles played the best game since I've been coaching here," said Parks on Wilson. "The thing about him is that he is a little bit misunderstood. He's a great person, but he's a little different and with that. sometimes he doesn't really understand that goes into being a college basketball player. He'll do it if he knows it, but it takes time for him to adjust. This week, he got in extra work with the coaches, which I didn't see since I've been here. He had more energy and played with more passion than the last two days of practice than anybody and he stepped up tonight, and it's always nice when guys try to do the right thing and are rewarded for it."

Alexandrea and Miles finished with six points each. Alexandrea added a rebound and an assist before being pulled out due to an injury, while Miles added a rebound, two assists a block and a steal.

"Clearance is someone who we are trying to give a lot of confidence to," said Parks on Miles. "He's been playing really well in practice, so it was definitely worth giving him a shot early on and that's the struggle I usually find with Clearance because by the time I want to put him in, he sat for a long time and he hasn't been successful in those circumstances."

"Tre got his third foul with 19:30 left in the second half and I didn't put him back in the game," said Parks on Alexandrea. "Tre was the best teammate I've seen him be since he's been here. He was the first one off the bench when guys check out and the first off the bench when we made a big play. I even looked at him at one point to put him in the game and he gave me this look to say 'don't do it coach, we got this' and so for him to have the humility and be able to accept his spot on the bench in a game like this, being a redshirt sophomore was remarkable and I think that shows a lot of growth."

Scarborough (four points and two rebounds), sophomore Joel Coffey (one rebound and one steal) and freshman Max Bell-Ramos (one rebound) also contributed in the game for the Manatees.

Sophomore Gary Jefferson led the Titans with 18 points and six rebounds, while classmate Daniel Melvin followed with 16 points and four assists.

Up Next:
The Manatees travel to Hillsborough as they take on HCC (12-7, 0-1 Suncoast on Saturday, January 12 at 4 pm at the HCC Center.

SCF Basketball Makes Successful Comeback vs Gordon State

In the wake of a phenomenal second half comeback, the SCF basketball team (8-7) fought tooth and nail to the end as they defeated Gordon State College (6-3) 76-72 for their last home game before the new year and before Suncoast Conference play at Hal Chasey Gymnasium on Friday night.

"We were down with two of our starters and we needed the next man to step it up," said head coach Tom Parks. "We dug ourselves a hole early in the game, but our guys fought as hard as they could, especially in the last 10 minutes. In the last seven minutes on defensive, we held them for three points, and that's what helped us win that game."

Going into the first half, the Highlanders shot 3-pointer after 3-pointer, predominately from sophomore Seth Brown-Carter. The Manatees did manage to cut the deficit briefly, but the Highlanders were barely fazed as they pulled away in the first half leading 50-36.

"We just wanted to keep chipping away a little bit at a time," said Parks on the overall game. "We talked about what we needed the score to be after 15 (minutes) and in the next 10 minutes in the game. We didn't accomplish the goal for the game, but what we talked about was rebounding and containing the ball, and those are two things we didn't control. Those are what we didn't do in the first half. In the second half, especially 10 minutes into the second half, we cleaned up the glass and played our hearts out,"

Going into the second half, despite struggling, the Manatees took advantages of some of the Highlanders costly mistakes, including several fouls, bad passes and poor shot decisions.

On the offensive front, it was the duo of freshman Isiah Dasher and sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe that stepped it up a notch for the Manatees as they took advantage of set screens from freshman Christnoff Scarborough. Along with Dasher and Osuigwe, sophomores Cyrus Barnes and Tre Alexandrea also played key elements as all four cut the deficit to three points and eventually tied the score 70-70 before taking their first lead of the game to make it 72-70 SCF. 

After another basket, Gordon State then issued a costly technical foul, which sent freshman Remy Robert II to the line to make one of his two free throws before the Highlanders cut it back to two after a Manatee foul and a pair of free throws to make it 73-72.

With less than 30 seconds left in the game, Osuigwe was sent to the line to make one of two free throws. 11 seconds later, Brown-Carter attempted a 3-point shot at the wing for the win, but to no success as Scarborough secured the final rebound and was sent to the line with 1.3 seconds left in the game. With a final push, Scarborough made both free throws in success for the Manatee won.

Dasher and Osuigwe led the Manatees with a combined 46 points (Dasher, 24; Osuigwe, 22) while Barnes followed with 14, Alexandrea with 10 and Scarborough with three. Dasher, Osuigwe, Barnes and Scarborough each had seven rebounds. Scarborough also added four blocks.

Robert II was held to only one point while fellow freshman Max Richards added two points and four rebounds. Both had the only points off the bench.

"Hats off to guys like Remy, Cyrus, DeAndre and Chris for getting that last rebound and two free throws, but the boards from Isiah really did stepped up to help us get the win," said Parks on his players.

The Manatees, who snapped a two-game losing streak, played without sophomores D'Moi Hodge and Joel Coffey. Hodge is averaging 18.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

"D'Moi is such a versatile player. He does so much for us as one of our best rebounders and one of our best offensive players," said Parks on Hodge. "One of our deficiencies on our team is rebounding and it was tough without him and we struggled earlier on the glass and we're use to having him clean up on that, but he wasn't there to do it, but we found a way in the second half to make our rebounding more effective."

Up Next:
The Manatees head back to Ocala as they face College of Central Florida (CCF) (8-7) on Saturday, December 15 at 4 P.M. for their final game before the winter break.

"Despite their record, CCF is a good team," said Parks on CCF. "They played a lot of good opponents, and right now, they're really hungry to get the win before winter break, so by no means it's not gonna be an easy game. Right now, our focus is getting better every single day, and if we play our best and we lose, we can't hang our heads because we got better and our goal is to play the best possible basketball when we go to the Suncoast Conference Tournament."

*side note: This was my first interview with coach Parks and the first recap for SCF.

SCF Basketball Readies for Gordon State

For this post, I decided to do something outside of FGCU athletics and go local in my own backyard: Bradenton, Florida. I know what my readers are probably thinking: "Why are you doing a story outside of FGCU?" My answer is this: I just wanted to. I want to go outside of the NCAA and look at teams at the NJCAA level.

This will be about the men's basketball team at my junior college (JUCO), State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota (SCF). The Manatees (7-7) prepared for another home game as they welcome Gordon State College (6-2) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium on Friday, December 14 at 6 P.M. The Manatees are led by first year head coach Tom Parks. Prior to SCF, Parks served as associate head coach for NJCAA Sheridan College in Wyoming before becoming assistant coach for Eastern Florida State College.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees, who are in the Suncoast Conference in the NJCAA Region 8 (FCSAA), are coming off of two losses in the JUCO Shootout in Ocala, hosted by College of Central Florida (CCF). They would fall to Miami-Dade (110-101) and Indian River State (98-82).

Leading the way for the Manatees are freshmen Isiah Dasher and D'Moi Hodge. Although he was suspended from the game against Miami Dade, Dasher remains in tact. The New Jersey native is averaging 16.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. In the game against Indian River, Dasher was held six points and two rebounds. Hodge is averaging 18.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Against Miami, he scored a season-high 50 points, seven rebounds and four blocks while against Indian River, he was pulled out due to an injury while finishing with nine points, two rebounds and one block. Because of his performances, the native of Tortola, British Virgin Islands was named FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week.

Another freshman that has been hot lately is Remy Robert II. Robert is averaging eight points per game and is predominantly the 3-point specialist on the team. At the JUCO Shootout, Robert II had 10 points against Miami-Dade and 17 against Indian River. In fact, the Baton Rouge native has scored at least 10 points in four straight games.

From the sophomore class, DeAndre Osuigwe is averaging 13.1 points per game and leads the team in assists per game (6.4). The Nyack College transfer (NCAA DII) had 11 points and nine assists against Miami-Dade and 16 points and eight assists against Indian River. Miles Wilson has also been a good factor defensively as he averages 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Wilson had 11 points and five rebounds assists against Miami-Dade and six points and two rebounds against Indian River.

Scouting Gordon State:
Gordon State College is located in Barnesville, Georgia and are a part of NJCAA Region 17/GCAA. The Highlanders are coming off of a 73-69 win against St. Pete College and enter the matchup with a three-game winning streak.

Sophomores Oronte' Anderson and Seth Brown-Carter lead the way for the Highlanders. Anderson is averaging 14.9 points and 4.6 assists per game while Brown-Carter is averaging 13.8 points per game. Against SPC, Anderson had 13 points and five assists while Brown-Carter had 19 points.

Freshman Tre GoMillion is also leading the way for the Highlanders as he averages 12 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. GoMillion did not play against SPC, but in his last game against South Carolina Salkehatchie he had nine points and three rebounds.

How to Keep Up:
Fans can watch the game livestream on the SCF athletics YouTube page and can also keep up on Twitter:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball
Gordon State: @gordonbasketbal

Promos:
General admission is $5 and for kids, it's $4, but fans can get in for free if they wear an ugly Christmas sweater to the game. Students and staff with an SCF I.D. will get in for free regardless.

*YouTube Page Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpxyXJqcQVkozbVYacR26g

*side note: Once the game ends, there will be no replay afterwards.

For my JUCO alma mater, I've actually been scouting some of these players, and I see a lot of potential in some of them that would be perfect for Dunk City. I'd love to have Dasher, Hodge, Robert II and Osuigwe play. The three freshman do need time to grow when they reach the end of their sophomore years. Dasher is like John Wall, a slasher, Hodge can throw down dunks (perfect fit) and Robert II is a sharp 3-point shooter, just like FGCU's redshirt senior Dinero Mercurius. I think Osuigwe would be a good fit too. He can pass the ball really well hence he has a lot of assists per game, and you rarely see pass first guard nowadays, but he has those elements that can fit for Dunk City.

It would really be great to have coach Michael Fly added a Manatee to the team. Softball coach Dave Deiros signed Erica Ward last year and baseball coach Dave Tollett signed Hunter McGarry and Anthony Gonnella this year, so why not sign an SCF basketball player on the team?