3rd Herd Claims Rematch Over Indian River

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (7-4, 4-2 Southern) were able to claim their rematch as they defeated Indian River State (9-2, 4-2 Southern) in a close knit game at Hal Chasey Gymnasium by a score of 88-84. With the win, the Manatees are now 5-15 against the Pioneers.

“The first time we played Indian River, it was hard for me to tell if we were just really bad or they were really good,” said head coach Tom Parks. “I think it was a combination of both because I think they are really good and we did not play really good when we went up there. It was really simple in terms of why we lost. We lost because we didn’t get down on defense and didn’t rebound and when it’s something so simple, we’ve been preaching it since that loss and all year. I think we did a better job rebounding and getting back in transition and not just ball watching when we make a shot or at the free throw line. Those were the biggest adjustments that we made and then it was great to see guys step up when guys got in foul trouble or fouled out of the game and when two of your best players foul out and to finish the game without them on the floor is incredible, especially not having a shot blocker or rim protector around the basket and without two really big rebounders we were able to find a way to win, which was a lot of fun.”

“Indian River State played really hard against us,” said freshman Tethloach Tut. “My teammates had my back and I was playing kind of soft and they told ‘Teth, we need you right now, be strong for us, we trust you. Just go out there and play your game’, so that’s what I did and pulled it off.”

It was a very exciting win,” said freshman Javon Bell. “They beat us the first time and we really wanted this one so we stepped the game up, came out hot when they weren’t ready and just won.”

The Manatees would open the offensive gate first as freshman James “Pop” Weathers would hit a 3-pointer to start it off. After sophomore Marshall Kearing hit a deep mid-range shot, Weathers would follow with a second 3-pointer to make it 8-2 SCF before ending the first half with the Manatees up 39-33.

In the second half, the Manatees continued to hold the lead in single digits with the score 85-84 still in favor of SCF with 11 second left on the clock. Parks then decided to bring in sophomore Christian Nieto. Nieto, who sat out last season, made his in-game debut after three and a half years.

For Nieto’s first touch, he drew a flagrant foul and was sent to the free throw where he scored his first point of the game after scoring one of two free throws. Five seconds later, he was fouled again and sent to the free throw for a one-and-one possession. After missing the first attempt, Nieto secured a crucial offensive rebound, was fouled for the third time and was sent to shoot two more free throws in success to seal the deal for a Manatee win.

“It felt great,” said Nieto on his debut. “It’s my first game in three years fully healthy and just for me to be able to step on the court for the first time with guys that I practiced with and go to war with every day is a great feeling.”

Nieto finished with three points and rebounds 

“I put Christian in because he’s a great shooter and I didn’t love the lineup we had on the floor knowing that they were going to have to foul us,” said Park on Nieto’s debut. “Christian was in the gym more than anybody and gets up shots more than anybody. I wanted to show him that I have confidence in him to be able to finish the game. What I didn’t know is he was going to get the biggest offensive rebound in his entire life and that’s just what he did. That’s how I see the game, by getting an offensive game from the free throw line when we had no other guys in there.”

“All in all, I’m excited for him even though he didn’t play as much as he wanted to and it’s going to take some time to get him back in the swing of things, but I’m happy for him because for him this feels like an ongoing battle to be able to be healthy and see him on the floor just meant a lot for him just to take his warmup off and check in to shoot free throws and I couldn’t be more proud of him.” 

Four Manatees scored in double figures. Weathers would lead the Manatees as he finished with 22 points (7-for-17 FG, 4-for-9 3PT, 4-for-5 FT), three assists, five steals and two blocks. Agwa would follow with 16 points (5-for-6 FG, 2-for-2 3PT, 4-for-5 FT), six rebounds, two assists, four steals and two blocks before fouling out.

Bell would finish with his second collegiate double-double of 15 points (5-for-14 FG, 3-for-7 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) and 12 rebounds, three assists and one block.

“I put up some exercise after practice every day so I was really feeling it today,” said Bell on his game. “So I went out there with my A-game on and did what I had to do to win the game.”

Kearing would round out the order with 13 points (5-for-8 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 2-for-4 FT), eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal before he fouled out.

Tut finished with eight points (3-for-6 FG, 2-for-4 3PT), six rebounds and one assist.

“With Teth, it’s just a matter of getting him comfortable,” said Park on Tut. “Just because he got here six months after everybody else and so it’s going to take time to really adjust with his teammates and be more comfortable with the system and our expectations. With that, he’s able to play without being tense all the time.”

Freshmen DK Kelly (six points, six assists, one rebound and one steal), Joe Stubbs (six points, one rebound, one assist, one block and one steal) and Michael Hatcher (two assists and a steal) and sophomore Sam Grayson also contributed in the game.

For the Pioneers, sophomores Linton Brown and AJ Cajuste each scored 19 points. Brown added nine rebounds and three assists, while Cajuste added six rebounds and five assists. Classmate Antrell Charlton followed with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while freshman Abdoulye Thiam rounded out the order with 12 points and four rebounds.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

#13 Florida Southwestern State (10-1, 5-0 Southern) defeated Palm Beach State (2-12, 0-6 Southern).

Up Next:

The Manatees welcome back an old rival as they welcome former Suncoast rival Polk State (4-4, 3-3 Central) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Monday night, March 1 at 7:30 pm.

3rd Herd Gets Ugly Win Over Palm Beach

Bradenton, Fla - A very aggressive, ugly and scrappy game was the best description head coach Tom Parks described the game as the SCF basketball team (5-3, 2-1 Southern) pulled away with their second win in Southern Conference play as they defeated Palm Beach State (2-9, 0-4 Southern) 85-78 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. With the win, the Manatees are now 3-8 against the Panthers.

“It’s always tough when you play, especially when you have a bye week as well,” said Parks. “You get in a rhythm playing games every Wednesday and Saturday and we got so many bye weeks with ASA Miami and Broward dropping out for the season that our by weeks are crazy, and I think it’s tough to remember what it’s like to play a game after you have had five days of practice, but we knew Palm Beach was going to be really scrappy and aggressive. When we were watching their film, they’re for sure talented, but we knew we were going to need to execute better, which we didn’t really do tonight, but tonight we were more scrappy and had guys step up and make plays offensively.”

We performed well with a lot of adversity,” said freshman James “Pop” Weathers. “We’ve been preaching about it at practice to play hard and we played hard tonight. It started with a couple of practices after playing Indian River that we lost. This game was different because we were able to bounce back so we can get ready to face FSW Saturday.”

“Everybody played their part and did well overall,” said freshman DK Kelly. “In the end, we know how to face adversity because (Coach) Parks tells us that at practice every time.”

In the first half, the Manatees took an 8-3 lead with six points coming from freshman DK Kelly, but with classmate James “Pop” Weathers being in early foul trouble until the Panthers reached double figures first. The game continued to be scrappy as the Manatees were able to take the the first half at 38-37 from a last second shot by freshman Javon Bell.

In the second half, the Manatees continued to hold onto the lead, despite the constant scrappiness from the Panthers. In the end, Weathers sunk the final two free throws to seals the deal for a Manatee win.

In the end, four Manatees finished in double figure scoring with Weathers and Kelly being the main leaders for the game. Weathers finished with 25 points (7-for-9 FG, 13-for-13 FT), three rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Kelly finished with his first collegiate double-double of 23 points (8-for-17 FG, 3-for-6 3PT, 4-for-5 FT) and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and four steals.

“DK had the best practice yesterday of the entire year,” said Parks on Kelly. “Tonight he was at a little bit of a different pace, like he was on a mission. I told him today ‘I hope you go off today because it’s going to show you that you practice that way, then you’re going to play that way.’ He’s a really unique player because he’s one of those guys that when you watch him, it looks like he’s moving really slow, but then he almost slows the defense to sleep and makes a quick move. The difference between today and the other games he played was he didn’t settle for his first few shots. If you’re not around DK for a while, outside looking in, you might say something about his shots that it can be similar to D’Moi Hodge, even though he’s a completely different player from a shooting perspective.”

“Pop was in foul trouble in the first half and that really effected him, similar to the last game against Indian River when he got his second foul with 10 minutes left in the first half,” said Parks on the team with Weathers. “It’s good experience for guys to learn how to win without him on the floor and for us in the first half to be able to maintain a small lead when were behind by six and then be up by one in the first half, but us to be able to maintain that lead and keep it without Pop on the floor say a lot about guys stepping up.”

“Pop is incredible getting to the free throw line,” said Parks on Weathers. “He is so good at drawing contact and is so quick that he catches guys off-guard and out of position and that really forces them to foul or give up a layup. I was happy he was able to turn it on in the second half and look forward to the next time Pop play two full halves instead of being stuck in foul trouble.”

Bell nearly had a double-double as he finished with 13 points (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 4-for-4 FT), eight rebounds, one assist and one block, while freshman Kwo Agwa rounded out the order with 12 points (5-for-11 FG, 2-for-4 FT), five rebounds, one assist and one block.

Sophomore Marshall Kearing finished with eight points, six rebounds, one assist and one block, while classmate Jordan Clark (two points, two rebounds,  two assists and one steal) and freshmen Michael Hatcher (one rebound) and Tethloach Tut (two points) also contributed in the game.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

#13 Florida Southwestern (7-1, 3-0 Southern) defeated Miami Dade (2-5, 1-2 Southern) 95-79. The Sharks will travel to Fort Pierce to face RV Indian River State (7-1, 2-1 Southern) Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.

Palm Beach State will be back in action Friday night, February 19 at 7 pm against GameChangers Prep.

Southern Conference Standings:

1. #13 FSW (7-1, 3-0)

2. Indian River State (7-1, 2-1)

3. SCF (5-3, 2-1)

4. Miami Dade (2-5, 1-2)

5. PBSC (2-9, 0-4)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be on the road Saturday afternoon, February 20 as they travel to Fort Myers to face #13 FSW at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena.

3rd Herd Buzzer Beater Gets New Conference Win

Bradenton, Fla - Freshman Kwo Agwa was the hero of 3rd Herd as the SCF basketball team (4-2, 1-0 Southern) pulled away with a tight win over Miami Dade (1-4, 0-1) at Hal Chasey Gymnasium by a score of 83-81. With the win, the Manatees are now 2-5 against the Sharks (2012-Present). Furthermore, it was the first win for the Manatees in their conference, the Southern Conference.

“It feels really good,” said head coach Tom Parks. “I think when you’re in a new conference and there’s no new coaching changes during your time, even though I’ve been a head coach for three seasons and as an assistant coach for Eastern Florida State, you get used to teams from the old conference such as St. Pete, Polk and Hillsborough, so you’re a little bit more prepared without a ton of effort just because you’ve been there before and Miami Dade is a team that you can’t prepare for because it’s very hard to immulate within your practices on what they do and so we tried to focus on a lot of principles that they do well in like pace offensive rebounding, but we’re not them so it’s very difficult to prepare.”

“I think the fact that we got a win is incredible, even if it was ugly where we had multiple times where we have it away, but finding a way to win with a little bit of luck, I will take it because I thought we did everything we could to prepare for this game and I thought the last three days of practice were really good and I thought our guys were reluctant. Hopefully the next time we play MDC, it’s going to be one of those things where we been there and know what they’re going to do since we’re used to it and we won’t have as many mistakes, but right now, I’m glad to get the win and I’m happy for the guys to start off 1-0 in conference.”

“It feels good to get a win like this, especially against a team like Miami Dade,” said sophomore Marshall Kearing. “We played good, but we could have done better. Obviously, the late shot that Kwo made helped us, but we’re happy to take the win.”

The Manatees started struggling in the first half even with a few lead changes, but were still able to cut the deficit to one point with the score 36-35 MDC.

Strong rebounding by Kearing and Agwa and big assists from freshman James “Pop” Weathers helped the Manatees take the lead in the second half until the Sharks started to come back. With 22 seconds left to the end of the second half, the Sharks took advantage of a crucial foul shot situation and went up by one. With 12 seconds left on the clock, sophomore Jordan Clark was double teamed and made a risky pass to Agwa. As the clock ticked to zero, the native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada released a fadeaway 3-point buzzer beater that helped the Manatees secure the victory and their first conference win of the season.

“It was a lot of excitement for this weekend,” said Agwa on shooting the game-winning shot. “I was in a shooting slump all season and I felt pretty good after my second three-pointer made.”

 

“Buzzer beaters are weird for coaches,” said Parks. “Yet when you’re on the winning end of the buzzer beater, especially in a time like this with so much unknown still with the pandemic, it’s like our team got to have that opportunity to win at the buzzer and celebrate to get our fourth win of the year. Nevertheless I’m excited, I could sit and be negative where I talk about all the mistakes we made, but I didn’t.”

Kearing would lead the way for the Manatees as he finished with a double-double of 24 points (12-for-13 FG) and 11 rebounds to go along with two assists, three blocks and four steals.

“My coaches always want me to crash the boards and I was trying to do that offensively and defensively,” sad Kearing on his double-double. “Defensively, they (Miami Dade) weren’t really blocking me out on the offensive end, so it was easy for me to get rebounds and just being aggressive offensively with scoring and getting the boards.”

“The thing about Marshall is he is playing a lot of minutes right now,” said Parks on Kearing. “It’s really hard for him to be consistent with his effort when he’s playing 30 plus minutes and to be honest, for as far as he played, he could play a lot better, but I think a lot of it is he almost feels like he has to conserve energy to be able to withstand the minutes he's playing. I’m excited for Marshall getting a double-double while getting some big loose ball plays and rebounds down the stretch.”

Agwa would follow with his first collegiate double-double as he finished with 17 points (6-for-10 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 2-for-3 FT) and 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Coach is always telling me to rebound the ball and he wanted 10 boards and I would always fall short,” said Agwa on his first collegiate double-double. “Today was my first time getting a real double-double and it feels pretty good to get it.”

Weathers nearly finished with a double-double as he finished with 13 points (4-for-9 FG, 5-for-6 FT), four rebounds, eight assists and four steals, while classmate Michael Hatcher would round out the order with 10 points (4-for-10 FG, 2-for-7 3PT), four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Freshmen Decorrian “DK” Kelly (seven points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal), Javon Bell (six points, two rebounds, three steals and three blocks) and sophomores Jordan Clarkson (four points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals) and Sam Grayson (two points and two rebounds) also contributed in the game. 

Freshman Tethloach Tut made his official debut for the Manatees. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Tut joined the team this year, but was unable to play the majority of the season due to paper issues.

“It’s really difficult when you have a team for four months and you add another player,” said Parks on the addition of Tut. “it’s difficult on the individual that comes in and difficult for the coaching staff trying to figure out where to put them in the rotation. Teth is definitely someone who will play more for us and this was his first game where he was eligible. It’s our job to incorporate him with different lineups and what his strengths are on those certain lineups and you can expect to see a lot more of him because he’s not someone who is going to be sitting on the bench a lot. He’s a really super talented player, even though it was his first and he was just thrown into the fire and I definitely look forward to see him play more down the stretch and we’re happy that this great young man is here so he can be locked in and focused on what we’re trying to do.”

For the Sharks, freshman Khalil Shaheed lead the way offensively as he finished with 21 points, two rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Denari Garrett and redshirt freshman Ciaran Sandy each finished with 15 points. Garrett added seven rebounds and three assists, while Sandy added four rebounds and three steals.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

#19 Indian River State (5-0, 1-0) defeated Palm Beach State (2-6, 0-1) 74-67 to open their portion of conference.

#15 FSW (4-1) defeated Central Pointe Academy this past Wednesday at home by a score of 97-66. The Buccaneers will travel to Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach for their opening conference game. It will also be their Southern Conference debut.

Southern Conference Standings:

1. #19 Indian River State (5-0, 1-0)

2. SCF (4-2, 1-0)

3. #15 FSW (4-1)

4. Miami Dade (1-4, 0-1)

5. Palm Beach State (2-6, 0-1)

Up Next:

The Manatees will test their waters in the Southern Conference on the road as they travel to Fort Pierce to take on #19 Indian River State Wednesday night, February 10 at 7:30 pm.

3rd Herd Readies for Another Top 25 Challenge

Bradenton, Fla - As they continue their journey in a new conference, the SCF men’s basketball team (4-2, 1-0 Southern) will be facing another challenge on their schedule as they travel to Fort Pierce to take on #16 Indian River State (5-0, 1-0 Southern) Wednesday night, February 10 at 5:30 at the Massey Gymnasium.

Spectators are permitted to attend the game.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a big 83-81 win over Miami Dade College in their first ever Southern Conference game.

The Manatees have five players scoring in double figures. Leading the way for the Manatees offensively is freshman James “Pop” Weathers. Weathers is averaging 20.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and three steals per game. In the opening conference game, Weathers almost had his second collegiate double-double as he finished with 13 points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Following behind Weathers is classmate DK Kelly, who is averaging 12.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, despite being held to seven points, two rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Marshall Kearing is currently averaging 11.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and five blocks per game. Kearing had one of his best scoring game as he finished with a 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks against Miami Dade.

Freshmen Kwo Agwa and Javon Bell are both averaging 10.5 points per game. Agwa is also averaging a team-leading 7.7 rebounds per game, while Bell averages 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Against Miami Dade, Agwa was the hero of the game as he finished with his first collegiate double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, which included the game-winning 3-point shot that got the Manatees the win over Miami Dade, while Bell had six points, two rebounds and three blocks.

Scouting Indian River State:

The Pioneers recently moved up to #16 in the NJCAA Top 25 National Polls after coming off opening Southern Conference play with 74-67 win over Palm Beach State this past Saturday.

Sophomore Tanahj Pettway leads the way averaging 14.4 points and four rebounds per game. Pettway had 13 points and four rebounds against Palm Beach State.

Classmate Linton Brown follows behind Pettway averaging 13.4 points and three rebounds per game.

As far as rebounding for the Pioneers, sophomore Antrell Charlton leads the way averaging 6.6 rebounds per game while also averaging 9.6 points per game. Charlton had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds against Palm Beach State.

Series History:

The Manatees are currently 4-13 against the Pioneers. Last season, both teams split a win in the season series with the Pioneers taking the first game 111-98 (11/8/19) before the Manatees took the second game by a score of 84-80 (11/26/19).

3rd Herd Wraps Up Homestead

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (3-2) wrapped up their four-game homestead as they defeated #23 Northwest Florida State (2-2) 95-77 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium Friday afternoon.

“I think that when we were talking about Northwest Florida State, I felt like we were a similar team in terms of how we played,” said head coach Tom Parks. “We’ve been fortune to get a couple of wins against some good teams, but it hasn’t been at all pretty. We played a little too much one-on-one basketball, not necessarily selfish, but it’s like we take turns on who is going to take a shot with very little movement and very little passing. We’ve also been very undisciplined on the defensive end.  When I watch Northwest Florida, I see a lot of those same weaknesses in them, but at the same time they are extremely talented with huge  high level players and when they figure it out, they are a really good team.”

“I’m definitely pleased with the way we responded because last time when we took the court an played St. Pete Tuesday, I felt like we weren’t ready to play and they made us pay for it, so it was nice to show up and play a complete game.”

“It felt good wrapping up the homestead with the win,” said freshman James “Pop” Weathers. “We pride ourselves for winning at home with home court advantage and we put pride in our defense so we can get the win.”

“We played really good team ball today,” said freshman Michael Hatcher. “If we can play like that every night, even with the ups and downs, we just got to keep playing together.”
“We did a lot better today,” said sophomore Marshall Kearing. “We’ve been developing a lot more as a team and it was really good.”

The Raiders would open the scoring drive first thanks to baskets by freshmen Fallou Diagne and Marchelus Avery for a 5-0 lead until freshman James “Pop” Weathers would get the Manatees on the board with a 3-pointer of his own from the corner, which was followed by a shot by  Kearing tied the game at 5-5.

Around the eight minute mark remaining, the Manatees would finally get their first lead of the game after an and-one possession by Weathers put the Manatees up 20-18. After that possession, it was strong blocking and rebounding from Kearing that kept the Manatees moving as he had six blocks in the first half.

With less than five minutes left in the first half, the Manatees managed to extend their lead to double figures as they finished the first half 38-27.

Heading into the second half, the Manatees started to buckle briefly in which their deficit was cut drastically where they almost blew the game, but Weathers, Kearing and freshman Michael Hatcher would not allow it. Hatcher would soon going on a spree from the 3-point line hitting four straight 3-point shots to extend the Manatees’ and for the win.

“We lead them back into the second half, but even with them leading the half 53-51, we finished with 44-22 run to help us get the win and close out the game,” said Parks on the second half.

“We preached about playing together the last two days of practice,” said Weathers on the overall performance. “If we play together, then we’ll be able to move the ball and score more than being selfish and playing one man ball.”

In the end, five Manatees ended up in double figures in scoring with two getting a double-double.

Weathers would be the offensive leader of the game as he finished with his first collegiate double-double of 31 points (9-for-17 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 14-for-19 FT) and 10 rebounds to go along with seven assists and three steals.

“It feels good to get the double-double,” said Weathers on his first collegiate double-double. “But it’s even better with the team win.”

“Pop is the person we’ve predominantly leaned on over these first five games,” said Parks on Weathers. “I think he felt relieved to get some help and he was more trusting from an offensive standpoint, giving up the ball and allowing guys to make plays.”

Kearing also had a double-double as he finished with 12 points (4-for-7 FG, 4-for-5 FT), a career-high 11 blocks, eight rebounds and two steals. It was his eighth career double-double with the Manatees.

“I did what I needed to do,” said Kearing on his game. I got points, blocked shots and grabbed boards. I was just being a presence offensively where I need to be.”

“The blocks that Marshall gets are so impressive,” said Parks on Kearing. “He blocks everybody, even the bigs. He’s the second person to leave the floor and he gets it on the way up and for him to compete like that, he will be hard to beat on the defensive end and it was great to see him with energy while contesting shots and just being the guy we know we can be.”

Hatcher, who came off the bench, produce a season-high 19 points (7-for-9 FG, 5-for-6 3PT), three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

“With the games in the past, I know I can shoot the ball,” said Hatcher on his game. “I listen to the coaches and they put me in a position so I can shoot the ball and I got a lot of good guys like Pop and DK to help me out. I just got to continue shooting it like I did today.”

“Mike Hatcher is super talented,” said Parks on Hatcher. “He’s a very good shooter with great size and he has a really good feel, even though there’s a big learning curve with many of the freshman and we just find for him to get on the floor so we can let him learn through some mistakes and positive plays. I was definitely impressed with him today, he shot the ball very confidently and held his own on the defensive end, which was nice to see even if it’s one of his weaknesses.”

Freshman Decorrian “DK” Kelly had 14 points (5-for-13 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), two rebounds, four assists and two steals, while sophomore Jordan Clark would round out the order with 10 points (4-for-8 FG, 2-for-2 3PT), three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

DK did a good job being more efficient and doing some things to get to the rim,”said Parks on Kelly. “It was nice to see him getting to the paint and make some finishes over those guys.”

Freshmen Javon Bell (seven points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal) and Kwo Agwa (four rebounds and one block) and sophomore Sam Grayson (one block and one assist) also contributed in the game.

For the Raiders, four players scored in double figures. Diagne lead the way with 19 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Jourdan Smith followed with 16 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Marseilles Caston added 14 points while Avery rounded out the order with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Indian River State (3-0) defeated Daytona State 92-75 in their last game. The Pioneers will face Daytona State again at home Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.

#1 Florida Southwestern (FSW) (3-0) defeated Eastern Florida State 74-53. The Buccaneers will travel to Niceville to take on Northwest Florida State Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.

Palm Beach State (0-3) fell to Chipola 80-62. The Panthers will be back in action Saturday afternoon against Hillsborough.

Miami Dade (1-1) will face Gulf Coast State College on the road Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.

Up Next:

The Manatees remain at home to open their first conference game in the Southern Conference as they welcome Miami Dade (1-1) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium, Saturday afternoon, February 6 at 4 pm. They initially scheduled to face Florida State College at Jacksonville, but cancelled due to a Covid-19 cancellation. 

Side Note: this was the first interviews with Weathers and Hatcher.

3rd Herd Readies for MDC

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (3-2) will now prepare themselves for a new challenge in a new conference as they welcome Miami Dade (1-3) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, February 6 at 4 pm. This will be the Manatees first game in the Southern Conference.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees wrapped up their non-conference game with a 95-77 win over then #23 Northwest Florida State. This was the second win over a Top 25 nationally ranked NJCAA team.

Leading the offensive front is freshman James “Pop” Weathers. Weathers is currently averaging  22.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game. In the game against NWFS, Weathers posted his first collegiate double-double as he finished with a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds while adding seven assists and two steals. In the end, Weathers was named, for the second straight week, the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week.

Classmate Decorrian “DK” Kelly is averaging 13.2 points, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, while classmate Javon Bell averages 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Kelly had 16 points, four assists and two steals against NWFS, while Bell had seven points and five rebounds.

On the sophomore side, Marshall Kearing is averaging 9.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.4 blocks per game. Kearing’s 5.4 blocks per game are ranked #4 in the nation. Kearing had a double-double of 12 points and 13 blocks against NWFS to go along with eight rebounds.

Scouting Miami Dade:

The Sharks are coming off of wrapping up their previous game against Daytona State losing by a score of 85-80. Their lone win so far was against the junior varsity team of Florida National University.

Seven players are averaging double figures per game in scoring. Redshirt freshman Victor Hart is averaging a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds per game as well as 1.5 blocks per game.

Freshman Denari Garrett is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game, while redshirt freshman Ciaran Sandy is averaging 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Series History (2012-present):

Overall, the Manatees are 1-5 against the Sharks with their lone win being on November 8, 2013. Last time both teams met was on December 8, 2018 where the Sharks won 110-101.

How to Keep Up:

The game will air livestream on the SCF Sports Network and fans can keep up with both teams on Twitter:

SCF: @SCF_Basketball

MDC: HoopsMDC

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

3rd Herd Welcome Former Foe SPC

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (2-1) are remaining at home as part of their four-game homestead at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. The Manatees will welcome former conference foe St. Petersburg College (0-0) Tuesday night, January 26 at 7 pm. Tuesday also marks the remembrance of the late legendary NBA player Kobe Bryant, who passed away last year on the date of the game.

Once again, spectators will not be allowed entry to the game in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from occurring.

Last Time Out:

After falling in their season opener to Chipola, the Manatees come off of two straight wins at home winning the home opener against Eastern Florida State 77-75 before claiming a rematch win over Chipola 69-67.

Freshman James “Pop” Weathers is the leading the Manatees offensively as he is averaging 18.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and three steals per game. In the first two home games, Weather had a combined 34 points, eight rebounds 12 assists and seven steals. He was named the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week for his performance.

Classmate Decorrian “DK” Kelly is following along averaging 12.7 points, two rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Kelly had a combined 20 points and four rebounds, five assists and three steals in the first two home games.

Freshman Kwo Agwa is averaging 10 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, while classmate Javon Bell averages 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Agwa had combined 18 points, 16 rebounds and seven steals, while Bell pulled off 36 points and 16 rebounds in the first two home games, which included his first collegiate double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds in the rematch win over Chipola.

Meanwhile from the sophomore class, Marshall Kearing is paving the way primarily defensively as he is also averaging 10 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game. Kearing had 21 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks in the first two home games this season.

Debuts:

Alongside Weathers, Kelly, Agwa, and Bell making their debuts, redshirt freshman Rae Miller and freshmen Joe Stubbs, Michael Hatcher and Darik Tannis-Harriet also made their debuts.

Scouting SPC:

This will be the season opener for the Titans after COVID-19 cancellations halted their first two games of the season. They were originally scheduled to face Indian River State and Gulf Coast State for their first two game before the cancellation.

Lead by head coach Earnest Crumbley, who enters his 22nd season as head coach, the Titans come off finishing last season 14-17 overall with a 4-8 record in the now defunct Suncoast Conference.

Crumbley brings back two of his leading scorers in Bryan Williams and Damon Davis.

Williams Averaged 15 points, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Additionally, he was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team.

Davis averaged 11.2 points, four rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He was named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team last season.

Additionally, Teddy Bayi Ba Mandeng returns to the Titans as the lead rebounder. Bayi Ba Mandeng averaged 7.3 rebounds, while averaging seven points per game. He joined Davis on the All-Suncoast Second Team last season.

Series History (2012-present):

Overall, the Manatees are 13-18 against the Titans. Last season, the Manatees claimed the season series winning game one 79-72 (1/8/20) and game two 79-73 (1/25/20) before losing the season finale 71-68 (2/12/20) and eliminating the Titans in the semifinals of the final Suncoast Conference Tournament 90-75..

How to Keep Up:
The game will be livestream on the SCF Sports Network and fans can keep up with both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCF_Basketball
SPC: @SPCMBasketball
Link:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/SCF/

3rd Herd Claims Home Openers

Bradenton, Fla - Despite no fans being in attendance at Hal Chasey Gymnasium, the SCF basketball team (2-1) pulled off two close wins as they defeated Eastern Florida State (1-1) 77-75 Friday night before defeating Chipola (2-1) 69-67. With the wins, the Manatees are now 1-2 against the Titans and 1-2 against the Indians. No fans were allowed to attend due to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

“It felt great to be at home,” said head coach Tom Parks. “Whether there are fans or not, Hal Chasey Gymnasium is something special. There’s so much character, history and tradition here. Anytime we have a chance to wear white uniforms at home and get a win is a phenomenal feeling.”

SCF vs EFSC:

To open the home season, it was almost dejavu all over again for the Manatees as they opened the scoring gates first as sophomore Marshall Kearing scored the first five points of the game, similar to the opening game against Chipola. The game was much more consistent for the Manatees with very few turnovers.

In the end, the Manatees pulled away thanks to strong defense that helped seals the deal against the Titans.

Four Manatees scored in double figures and it was yet again freshman James “Pop” Weathers that lead the Manatees offense as he finished with 20 points (7-for-20 FG, 1-for-5 3PT, 5-for-7 FT), six rebounds, six assists and six steals. Classmate Decorrian “DK” Kelly followed with 17 points (7-for-16 FG, 3-for-10 3PT), two rebounds, four assists and three steals, while sophomore Marshall Kearing had 13 points (6-for-13 FG, 1-for-4 3PT), five rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks. Freshman Kwo Agwa rounded out the order with 11 points (5-for-12 FG, 1-for-1 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Freshmen Javon Bell (nine points, five rebounds, three assists, two steal and a block) and Michael Hatcher (three points, one rebound and one steal) and sophomores Jordan Clark (four points, one rebound, one assist and one steal) and Sam Grayson (two points and four rebounds) also contributed in the game, while redshirt freshman Raequan Miller made his SCF debut after sitting out last season.

For the Titans, sophomore Christyon Eugene lead the offense with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds while freshman Lovre Zaja added 14 points and five assists off the bench.

SCF vs Chipola:

In the rematch between SCF and Chipola, it remained in the Manatees favor as they continued to counter the Indians press and zone defense in success despite the Indians hard-fought effort cutting down the Manatees deficit lead.

In the end, it was Bell that lead the way against the Indians with his best offensive game this season as he finished with his first collegiate double-double of 27 points (8-for-18 FG, 3-for-8 3PT, 8-for-8 FT) and 11 rebounds to go along with one assist, one steal and three blocks. Weathers followed with 14 points (3-for-9 FG, 1-for-1 3PT, 7-for-9 FT), two rebounds, six assists and one steal.

Kearing was two points shy of a double-double as he finished with eight points (3-for-7 FG), 10 rebounds, three assists and six blocks, while Agwa finished with seven points, nine rebounds, three steals and a block.

Kelly had six points, one rebound, one assist and one block, while Hatcher (four points, five rebounds and one assist) and Clark (there points, one rebound and one assist) were the lone two players that scored off the bench.

Grayson (one steal) and freshman Darik Tannis-Harriet (one assist) also contributed in the game.

Notes:
Tannis-Harriett and classmate Joe Stubbs made their on-court debuts for the team. For Tannis-Harriett, he follows the footsteps of his older brother and SCF alum Dominik.

Other Southern Conference Scores:
Indian River State (2-0) defeated Pensacola State (0-2) 61-58 Friday and 78-69 on Saturday in Tallahassee. The Pioneers will face Daytona State (0-1) on the road Tuesday night, January 26 at 6 pm before their home opener Saturday afternoon, January 30 at 3:30 pm.

Palm Beach State (0-3) dropped their home opener to Chipola by a score of 69-51 Friday night before losing 76-56 to Santa Fe College (2-0). The Panthers will be back in action Tuesday night at 7 pm as they welcome Potter’s House Prep.

Florida Southwestern (2-0) defeated Polk State (0-1) 75-62 on the road. The Buccaneers will be back in action Wednesday night at 7 pm as they travel to Melbourne to take on EFSC.

Miami-Dade (1-1) had to cancel their game against Florida State College at Jacksonville Saturday after before falling to Northwest Florida State (2-0) 71-56. The Sharks will welcome the Florida National University JV team Wednesday night, January 27 at 7 pm.

Up Next:
The Manatees remain at home for the next two games as they welcome former conference foe St. Pete College to Hal Chasey. This will be the Titans first game of the season after cancelling the first two due to a COVID-19 cancellation. 

3rd Herd reclama los abridor de casas

Bradenton, Fla - A pesar de que ningún fanático asistió al Hal Chasey Gymnasium, el equipo de baloncesto de SCF (2-1) logró dos victorias cerradas al derrotar a Eastern Florida State (1-1) 77-75 el viernes por la noche antes de derrotar a Chipola (2-1) 69-67. Con las victorias, los manatíes están ahora 1-2 contra los Titans y 1-2 contra los Indios.

No se permitió la asistencia de fanáticos para evitar la propagación de COVID-19.

“Se sintió genial estar en casa,”  dijo el entrenador en jefe Tom Parks. “Ya sea que haya fans o no, Hal Chasey Gymnasium es algo especial.  Hay mucho carácter, historia y tradición aquí. Cada vez que tenemos la oportunidad de usar uniformes blancos en casa y obtener una victoria es una sensación fenomenal.”

SCF frente a EFSC:

Para abrir la temporada en casa, fue casi un dejavu nuevamente para los manatíes cuando abrieron las puertas de anotación primero cuando el estudiante de segundo año Marshall Kearing anotó los primeros cinco puntos del juego, similar al juego de apertura contra Chipola. El juego fue mucho más consistente para los Manatíes con muchas pérdidas de balón.

Al final, los Manatíes se separaron gracias a una fuerte defensa que ayudó a sellar el trato contra los Titanes.

Cuatro manatíes anotaron en cifras dobles y fue nuevamente el estudiante de primer año James "Pop" Weathers quien lideró la ofensiva de los manatíes cuando terminó con 20 puntos (7 de 20 tiros de campo, 1 de 5 3PT, 5 de 7 pies)  , seis rebotes, seis asistencias y seis robos. Su compañero de clase Decorrian "DK" Kelly lo siguió con 17 puntos (7 de 16 tiros de campo, 3 de 10 tiros de tres puntos), dos rebotes, cuatro asistencias y tres robos, mientras que el estudiante de segundo año Marshall Kearing tuvo 13 puntos (6 de 13 tiros de campo,  1-de-4 3PT), cinco rebotes, dos asistencias, un robo y dos tapones. El estudiante de primer año Kwo Agwa completó el orden con 11 puntos (5 de 12 tiros de campo, 1 de 1 tiros libres), siete rebotes, tres asistencias y dos robos.

Los estudiantes de primer año Javon Bell terminaron (nueve puntos, cinco rebotes, tres asistencias, dos robos y un bloqueo) y Michael Hatcher (tres puntos, un rebote y un robo) y los de segundo año Jordan Clark (cuatro puntos, un rebote, una asistencia y un robo) y Sam Grayson (dos puntos y cuatro rebotes) también contribuyeron en el juego, mientras que el estudiante de primer año de camiseta roja Raequan Miller hizo su debut en SCF después de quedarse fuera la temporada pasada.

Para los Titans, la estudiante de segundo año Christyon Eugene lideró la ofensiva con un doble-doble de 21 puntos y 14 rebotes, mientras que la estudiante de primer año Lovre Zaja agregó 14 puntos y cinco asistencias desde el banco.

SCF vs Chipola:

En la revancha entre SCF y Chipola, se mantuvo a favor de los manatíes, ya que continuaron contraatacando a la prensa de los Indios y a la defensa de la zona con éxito a pesar de los esfuerzos de los Indios para reducir el déficit de los manatíes.

Al final, fue Bell quien abrió el camino contra los Indios con su mejor juego ofensivo esta temporada, ya que terminó con su primer doble-doble colegiado de 27 puntos (8-de-18 tiros de campo, 3-de-8 3PT, 8-por-8 FT) y 11 rebotes para acompañar una asistencia, un robo y tres tapones.  Weathers le siguió con 14 puntos (3 de 9 tiros de campo, 1 de 1 3PT, 7 de 9 tiros libres), dos rebotes, seis asistencias y un robo.

Kearing estuvo a dos puntos de un doble-doble ya que terminó con ocho puntos (3 de 7 FG), 10 rebotes, tres asistencias y seis bloqueos, mientras que Agwa terminó con siete puntos, nueve rebotes, tres robos y un bloqueo.

Hatcher (cuatro puntos, cinco rebotes y una asistencia) y Clark (hay puntos, un rebote y una asistencia) fueron los dos únicos jugadores que anotaron desde el banco.

Grayson (un robo) y el novato Darik Tannis-Harriet (una asistencia) también contribuyeron en el juego.

 Notas:

Tannis-Harriett y su compañero de clase Joe Stubbs hicieron su debut en la cancha para el equipo. Para Tannis-Harriett, sigue los pasos de su hermano mayor y alumno de SCF, Dominik.

Otras puntuaciones de la Conferencia Sur:

Indian River State (2-0) derrotó a Pensacola State (0-2) 61-58 el viernes y 78-69 el sábado en Tallahassee. Los Pioneers se enfrentarán a Daytona State (0-1) en la carretera el martes 26 de enero a las 6 pm antes de su primer partido en casa el sábado 30 de enero a las 3:30 pm.

Palm Beach State (0-3) perdió su primer partido en casa ante Chipola por un marcador de 69-51 el viernes por la noche antes de perder 76-56 ante Santa Fe College (2-0). Los Panthers volverán a estar en acción el martes por la noche a las 7 pm para dar la bienvenida a Potter's House Prep.

Florida Southwestern (2-0) derrotó a Polk State (0-1) 75-62 en la carretera. Los Buccaneers volverán a la acción el miércoles por la noche a las 7 pm mientras viajan a Melbourne para enfrentarse al EFSC.

Miami-Dade (1-1) tuvo que cancelar su juego contra Florida State College en Jacksonville el sábado después de caer ante Northwest Florida State (2-0) 71-56. Los Sharks darán la bienvenida al equipo JV de la Universidad Nacional de Florida el miércoles 27 de enero a las 7 pm.

 Hasta la próxima:

Los Manatíes permanecen en casa durante los próximos dos juegos, ya que dan la bienvenida al ex enemigo de la conferencia St. Pete College en Hal Chasey. Este será el primer juego de la temporada de los Titans después de cancelar los dos primeros debido a una cancelación de COVID-19.

3rd Herd Fall in Season Opener

Marianna, FL - Turnovers played as a disadvantage for the SCF basketball team (0-1) as they dropped their season opener to Chipola (1-0) 81-71 at the Milton H. Johnson Center in Marianna. With  the win, the Manatees are 0-2 against the Indians (2011-present).

“Even though we lost the game, I think the biggest thing we can learn from today is we got a lot of growing to do,” said head coach Tom Parks. “To lose by 10 to really good team on the road with 24 turnovers and going 0-12 at the 3-point line in the second half, it says that if we had a few more shots go down and cleaned up the unforced turnovers, then I think we could have put ourselves in a better position to beat teams on the road.”

“Obviously I’m disappointed with the loss, but we have a lot of areas we can improve on and the exciting is we’ll get a rematch with them on Sunday four days from now, so we got a learning to do once we look things over and clean up the unforced turnovers.”

The Manatees opened the scored on the opening drive with back-to-back back baskets by freshman James “Pops” Weathers and classmate Kwo Agwa and soon the Manatees took a 13-5 lead before the Indians called timeout.

With 12 minutes left in the first half, the Manatees started getting sloppy on their offensive possessions and began to turn the ball over constantly thanks to the Indians’ press and zone defense, which lead to 14 first half turnovers.

“Turnovers played a big role against us in both halves,” said Parks on the turnover count. “The one thing we can take from it is we haven’t played a game in 10 months. Chipola has been practicing their press and zone defense all fall and the beginning of the spring semester, which coach Tyndall is known for and is good at leading it. So when we take a look at the film, we can automatically clean up the turnovers we made for the rematch against them.”

Eventually the Indians took the lead and led by as much as eight points, but the Manatees were able to finish the first half after a final 3-pointer by Weathers kept the Manatees up 45-41 at the end of the first half.

At the start of the second half, the Manatees were able to hold on to the lead for the first seven minutes, but soon the cloud of turnovers and rushed 3-point attempts started to hurt their offense and the Indians would regain the lead and went up by as much as 16 points.

The Manatees tried to cut the deficit to single digits, but unfortunately it was not enough as the Indians kept the lead up by 10 and secured their victory.

Three Manatees scored in double figures and it was Weathers that lead the Manatees offensively as he finished with 22 points (8-for-17 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 4-for-4 FT), five assists and two steals. Kelly followed with 15 points (5-for-16 FG, 3-for-11 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), three rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Agwa rounded out the lineup in double figures as he finished with 12 points (5-for-12 FG, 2-for-4 FT), four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Sophomore Marshall Kearing, who recently committed to South Alabama after this season, finished with nine points (4-for-8 FG, 1-for-3 FT), eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and six blocks, while classmate Jordan Clark finished with four points, eight rebounds and one steal.

Hatcher contributed with one assist, while freshman Javon bell finished with seven points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals and sophomore Sam Grayson added two points, two rebounds and a block.

For the Indians, three players also scored in double figures. It was freshman Achor Achor lead the way offense as he finished with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. Sophomore transfer Carlos Lemus, who also played off the bench, followed with 11 points and four rebounds, while freshman Jaeden Zackery, who was in the starting lineup, rounded out the order with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Notes:

This was the debuts of Weathers, Kelly, Agwa, Bell and Hatcher.

This was also the debut for Chipola head coach Donnie Tyndall, who was the former head coach for the Grand Rapids Drive, the NBA G-League affiliated team for the Detroit Pistons.

Other Southern Conference Games:

Palm Beach State (0-1) would fall to Eastern Florida State 60-58 in their season opener. The Panthers will return to action Saturday afternoon against Santa Fe College.

Indian River State was originally scheduled to face St. Pete College, but it was stopped due to a COVID-19 cancellation. The Pioneers will officially open their season tomorrow night against Pensacola State

#8 Florida Southwestern (FSW) (1-0) defeated Hillsborough (0-1) 76-71 at home. The Buccaneers will return to action Saturday afternoon on the road against Polk State.

Miami Dade (1-0) won their season opener at home to NAIA St. Thomas University JV by a score 97-76. The Sharks will return to action Saturday on the road against Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Up Next:

The Manatees prepare for their home opener as they welcome Eastern Florida State (1-0) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Friday night at 8 pm before facing Chipola in a rematch Sunday afternoon at 2 pm as part of their four-game homestead.

“When it comes to Easten Florida, I think the biggest thing is they are going to be very disciplined and well-coached and make constant adjustments throughout the game,” said Parks on facing EFSC. “We’re going to have to be one step ahead in order to beat a team regardless if its at home or on the road. I’m definitely excited against the team I coached for back then.”

Parks was the associate head coach for EFSC prior to taking the head coach role for the Manatees. The last time Parks faced head coach Jeremy Shulman, who he coached with in the past, was in the first round of 2018-19 FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament where the Titans were victorious.

“Coach Shulman is a friend and a mentor to me and is someone I look up to from the business both on and off the court,” said Parks on Shulman. 

3rd Herd Otoño en la apertura de la temporada

Marianna, FL - Las pérdidas de balón jugaron como una desventaja para el equipo de baloncesto de la SCF (0-1), ya que dejaron caer su primer partido de temporada ante Chipola (1-0) 81-71 en el Milton H. Johnson Center en Marianna.  Con la victoria, los manatíes están 0-2 contra los indios (2011-presente).

"Aunque perdimos el juego, creo que lo más importante que podemos aprender hoy es que tenemos mucho que crecer,” dijo el entrenador en jefe Tom Parks. “Perder por 10 contra un equipo realmente bueno en la carretera con 24 pérdidas de balón y estar 0-12 en la línea de 3 puntos en la segunda mitad, dice que si tuviéramos algunos tiros más, bajamos y limpiamos las pérdidas de balón no forzadas,  entonces creo que podríamos habernos puesto en una mejor posición para vencer a los equipos en la carretera.”

“Obviamente estoy decepcionado con la derrota, pero tenemos muchas áreas en las que podemos mejorar y lo emocionante es que tendremos una revancha con ellos el domingo dentro de cuatro días, así que tenemos un aprendizaje que hacer una vez que miramos  todo y limpiar las pérdidas de balón no forzadas.”

Los Manatíes abrieron el marcador en la serie inicial con canastas consecutivas del estudiante de primer año James "Pops" Weathers y su compañero de clase Kwo Agwa y pronto los Manatíes tomaron una ventaja de 13-5 antes de que los Indios pidieran un tiempo muerto.

Con 12 minutos para el final de la primera mitad, los manatíes empezaron a descuidarse en sus posesiones ofensivas y empezaron a perder el balón constantemente gracias a la presión y la defensa de zona de los Indios, que llevaron a 14 pérdidas de balón en la primera mitad.

"Las pérdidas de balón jugaron un papel importante en nuestra contra en ambas mitades,” dijo Parks sobre el recuento de pérdidas. "Lo único que podemos sacar es que no hemos jugado un partido en 10 meses.  Chipola ha estado practicando su defensa de zona y prensa durante todo el otoño y el comienzo del semestre de primavera, por lo que el entrenador Tyndall es conocido y es bueno para liderarlo. Entonces, cuando echamos un vistazo a la película, podemos limpiar automáticamente las pérdidas de balón que hicimos para la revancha contra ellos.”

Finalmente, los Indios tomaron la delantera y lideraron por hasta ocho puntos, pero los Manatíes pudieron terminar la primera mitad después de que un triple final de Weathers mantuvo a los Manatíes arriba 45-41 al final de la primera mitad.

Al comienzo de la segunda mitad, los manatíes pudieron mantener la ventaja durante los primeros siete minutos, pero pronto la nube de pérdidas de balón y los intentos de triples apresurados comenzaron a dañar su ofensiva y los Indios recuperaron la ventaja y se fueron.  hasta en 16 puntos.

Los manatíes intentaron reducir el déficit a un solo dígito, pero desafortunadamente no fue suficiente ya que los indios mantuvieron la ventaja por 10 y aseguraron su victoria.

Tres manatíes anotaron en dígitos dobles y fue Weathers quien lideró a los manatíes ofensivamente cuando terminó con 22 puntos (8 de 18 tiros de campo, 2 de 5 3PT, 4 de 4 FT), cuatro asistencias y un robo. Kelly siguió con 15 puntos (5 de 13 tiros de campo, 3 de 9 3PT, 2 de 2 FT), cuatro rebotes, tres asistencias y dos robos, mientras que Agwa completó la alineación en cifras dobles cuando terminó con  12 puntos (5 de 13 tiros de campo, 2 de 4 tiros libres), dos rebotes, dos asistencias y dos robos.

El estudiante de segundo año Marshall Kearing, quien recientemente se comprometió con el sur de Alabama después de esta temporada, terminó con nueve puntos (4 de 8 tiros de campo, 1 de 3 tiros libres), siete rebotes, dos asistencias, dos robos y cinco bloqueos, mientras que su compañero de clase Jordan Clark  terminó con cuatro puntos, siete rebotes y un robo.

Hatcher contribuyó con una asistencia, mientras que el estudiante de segundo año Sam Grayson agregó dos puntos, dos rebotes y dos bloqueos.

Para los indios, tres jugadores también anotaron en cifras dobles. El novato Achor Achor lideró la ofensiva al terminar con 14 puntos y cinco rebotes desde el banco.  El traspaso de segundo año Carlos Lemus, quien también jugó desde el banco, siguió con 11 puntos y cuatro rebotes, mientras que el novato Jaeden Zackery, quien estaba en la alineación titular, completó el orden con 10 puntos, tres rebotes, tres asistencias y dos robos.

 Notas:

Este fue el debut de Weathers, Kelly, Agwa, Bell, Hatcher y el estudiante de primer año Joe Stubbs.

Este también fue el debut del entrenador en jefe de Chipola, Donnie Tyndall, quien fue el ex entrenador en jefe de Grand Rapids Drive, el equipo afiliado de la NBA G-League para los Detroit Pistons.

Otros Juegos de la Conferencia del Sur:

Palm Beach State (0-1) caería ante Eastern Florida State 60-58 en su primer partido de temporada.  Los Panthers volverán a la acción el sábado por la tarde contra Santa Fe College.

Originalmente, Indian River State estaba programado para enfrentar a St. Pete College, pero se detuvo debido a una cancelación de COVID-19.  Los Pioneers abrirán oficialmente su temporada mañana por la noche contra Pensacola State

#8 Florida Southwestern (FSW) (1-0) derrotó a Hillsborough (0-1) 76-71 en casa.  Los Buccaneers volverán a la acción el sábado por la tarde en la carretera contra Polk State.

Miami Dade (0-1) perdió su primer partido de temporada en casa ante NAIA St. Thomas University JV por un marcador 97-76.  Los Sharks volverán a la acción el sábado en la carretera contra Florida State College en Jacksonville.

 Hasta la próxima:

Los manatíes se preparan para su primer partido en casa cuando dan la bienvenida a Eastern Florida State (1-0) al Hal Chasey Gymnasium el viernes por la noche a las 8 pm antes de enfrentar a Chipola en una revancha el domingo por la tarde a las 2 pm como parte de su casa de cuatro juegos.

"Cuando se trata de Easten Florida, creo que lo más importante es que serán muy disciplinados y bien entrenados y harán ajustes constantes durante todo el juego,” dijo Parks al enfrentarse a EFSC. “Tendremos que estar un paso por delante para vencer a un equipo sin importar si está en casa o fuera. Definitivamente estoy emocionado contra el equipo para el que entrené en ese entonces.”

Parks fue el entrenador en jefe asociado de EFSC antes de asumir el papel de entrenador en jefe de los Manatíes. La última vez que Parks se enfrentó al entrenador en jefe Jeremy Shulman, con quien entrenó en el pasado, fue en la primera ronda del Torneo Estatal FCSAA / NJCAA Región 8 2018-19, donde los Titanes obtuvieron la victoria.

“El entrenador Shulman es un amigo y un mentor para mí y es alguien a quien admiro del negocio tanto dentro como fuera de la cancha,” dijo Parks sobre Shulman.

3rd Herds Opens Season on the Road

Bradenton, Fla. - The SCF basketball team will officially go underway with their season as they open up on the road Wednesday night, January 20 at 8 pm. The Manatees will travel to Marianna, FL to take on Chipola College at the Milton H. Johnson Center.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of one of their best seasons in program history as they finished 21-11 overall with a 5-7 record in conference. The 21 wins for the Manatees were the most they have had from the 2010 ERA. 

They would win the Suncoast Conference Tournament by defeating Polk State for the second straight season and qualify for the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII State Tournament before falling to then #10 Tallahassee CC in the first round.

Meet the Staff:

The Manatees are led by head coach Tom Parks, who enters his third year as head coach. He is joined by assistant coaches Lem Andrews (12th year), Nav Gill (2nd year) and student assistant David Peck.

Rob Beckmann, who was the associate head coach for the Manatees has parted ways from the team and has decided to become an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at Independence CC.

Additionally, Travis Nesby joins the Manatees coaching staff as an assistant coach. Nesby is also assistant coach for the Booker High School boys basketball team in Sarasota.

Team Changes:

The team will be without seven players: D'Moi Hodge, Isiah Dasher, Remy Robert II, Christnoff "Chris" Scarborough, Max Bell-Ramos, Jean-Pierre "JP" Frederick and Michael Gavin as they have transferred to continue their collegiate basketball careers. Hodge, Dasher, Robert II, Scarborough and Bell-Ramos have graduated upon their transfers.

Hodge, a two-time All-Suncoast First Team member, will be attending Cleveland State University in Cleveland with two years of eligibility remaining. Hodge finished his sophomore campaign averaging 25.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while setting two program scoring records for SCF Basketball: Most Points in a Single Season (805) and Most Career Points (1,403) in program history.

The Vikings finished last season 11-21 overall with a 7-11 record in the Horizon League (8th in conference standings).

Another two-time All-Suncoast First Team member, Dasher will be continuing his path at Portland University in Portland, Or with two years of eligibility remaining. Dasher was six points shy of reaching 1,000 points in his career and becoming the second active player to reach the milestone (first was Hodge), yet Dasher finished his sophomore campaign averaging 15.6 points, five rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

The Pilots finished last season 9-23 overall with a 1-15 record in the West Coast Conference (last in conference standings).

Like Dasher, Scarborough will also be heading to the west coast as he will continue playing at Holy Names University (NCAA DII) in Oakland, California with two years of eligibility remaining. Although he mainly played as a backup center, the Clearwater native finished his sophomore campaign averaging 5.1 points and four rebounds per game, which including a career-high 16 points and his first collegiate double-double.

The Hawks finished last season 8-20 overall with a 6-16 record in the Pac West Conference (10th in conference standings).

Robert II will be the third Manatee to go DI as he will be transferring to Wichita State University as a walk-on with two years of eligibility remaining. The Baton Rouge native finished his sophomore campaign averaging 3.8 points per game with a 27.8% 3-point percentage.

The Shockers finished the 2019-20 season 23-8 overall with an 11-7 record in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) (4th in the conference standings), however they were unable to play in their conference tournament due to COVID-19. They did finish 5-1 against Power 5 Conference schools and included three upset wins against a Top 25 team (#25 VCU, #25 Oklahoma State and #21 Memphis).

Bell-Ramos will continue his collegiate basketball career at Lane College, a historically black college in Jackson, Tennessee. Bell-Ramos finished his sophomore campaign averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, which included a career-high 14 points on two occasions. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

The Dragons, who are a part of the NCAA DII Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) finished last season 11-17 overall with a 7-12 record in western standings of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (5th in the conference standings).

Frederick, who was unable to play for the Manatees due to several issues with the NJCAA and a previous non-athletic college in Saint Lucia he attended, has also parted ways with SCF and will be enrolling at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan as a redshirt freshman with all four years of eligibility remaining.

The Timberwolves, who are a part of the NCAA DII Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), finished the 2019-20 season 18-13 overall with an 11-9 record in the GLIAC before losing in the finals of the conference tournament.

Gavin has decided to transfer to Keiser University (NAIA) with three years of eligibility remaining. Gavin finished his freshman campaign averaging five points per game with a 37.1 three-point percentage, which included a game-high 16 points against Impact Academy (11/30/19). He will be joining senior fellow SCF Alum Corey Davis on the team.

The Seahawks, who were ranked No. 21 in the nation in the NAIA, finished last season 23-7 overall with a 14-4 record in the Sun Conference. They would make it to the Sun Conference Tournament and yet despite losing in the semifinals, they still managed to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament.

Farewell Suncoast, Hello Southern Conference:
It was just announced that men's basketball will no longer be competing in the Suncoast Conference as it is now has been defunct. The Manatees and three-time Suncoast Conference Regular Season Champions, Florida Southwestern State (FSW) and St. Petersburg College will now be joining the Southern Conference starting in 2020-21. The Manatees, Titans and the Buccaneers will be joining their new conference spot with Miami Dade (MDC), Palm Beach State (PBSC) and defending Southern Conference Regular Season Champions Indian River State.

On June 30, Broward College, who was an originally member of the Southern Conference, made the decision to discontinue their athletics due to their budget cuts.

ASA Miami has made the decision to cancel their 2020-21 athletic season due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Suncoast, Polk State and Hillsborough, will be joining the Mid-Florida Conference with Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), Eastern Florida State (EFSC), Santa Fe and Daytona State.

Central Florida, the defending Mid-Florida Regular Season Champions, will not be participating as they have cut their men's and women's basketball teams.

The Panhandle Conference remains in tact with their members, TCC, Gulf Coast State (GCSC), Pensacola (PSC), Chipola and Northwest Florida (NWFS).

Despite the change for men's basketball, the SCF volleyball, softball and baseball teams will remain in the Suncoast Conference while women's tennis and beach volleyball remain in their respective conferences.

NJCAA Changes:
The NJCAA recently announced on July 13 that due to the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), all of their fall and winter sports (indoor volleyball, football, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, and swimming and diving) have been pushed back to start in January. Baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis (DI and DII) and beach volleyball will run their normal scheduling with a few minor adjustments to their schedules.

In the case with all men's and women's junior college basketball teams, the NJCAA has ruled that all junior colleges will play a maximum of 22 games with the inclusion of non-conference play^.

^side note: the amount of non-conference games will vary based upon the decision of the regions.

The NJCAA also stated that the board of directors approved a blanket waiver on Thursday for all sports in the 2020-21 season, meaning athletes at 512 member institutions in 45 states will not lose a year of eligibility regardless of their levels of participation this year.

The NCAA, which has also issued a waiver for competition this season, will not automatically apply the NJCAA's decision for transfer students, and will require NCAA schools to submit a waiver or extension request for review based on each athlete's specific situation. But it's likely the NJCAA's waiver will be considered in the process.

The junior college organization's ruling potentially means that freshmen could play this spring and still enter a four-year school with four years of eligibility. Likewise, junior college athletes would be eligible to return for a third season.

Last Season's Suncoast Standings:
1. #1 FSW (29-2, 12-0)
2. Polk State (21-10, 7-5)
3. SCF (21-12, 5-7)
4. SPC (14-17, 4-8)
5. HCC (10-18, 2-10)

Last Season's Southern Standings:
1. Indian River State (22-8, 11-1)
*2. Broward (17-10, 7-5)
3. MDC (18-11, 5-7)
4. PBSC (13-17, 4-8)
5. ASA Miami (9-21, 3-9)

*Final season for the Seahawks

This Season's Southern Conference Look:

1. SCF

2. FSW

3. MDC

4. PBSC

5. SPC

6. Indian River

Next Season's New Bloods:
For the upcoming "3rd Herd", Parks confirmed on January 20 that he had signed four players to join SCF next season: Kwo Agwa, Michael Hatcher, DK Kelly and Javon Bell. Parks then confirmed in April that he signed three more newcomers, Luke LeCroy, Joe Stubbs and James "Pop" Weathers.

Redshirt freshmen Rae Miller and Christian Nieto, who were walk-ons last season, will be making their debuts after sitting out last season.

The Manatees did add two more additions to their team to complete the roster: Darik Tannis-Harriet and Tethloach Tut.

Initially, the Manatees attempted to sign Hunter Madden, a native of Sydney, Australia and developmental player of the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League (Australia), but has committed to play for the University of Idaho instead.

Keenan Willie, another recruit from Australia that initially signed, has decided to go pro back in Australia.

Kwo Agwa:

A 6-7 swingman from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by way of South Sudan, Agwa will come from the Edge School in Calgary. Agwa played in only four games with Edge due to an injury while averaging 17.5 points per game.


Michael Hatcher:

A 6-6 wing, Hatcher is a local product from Palmetto High School in Palmetto, Florida. As a senior, Hatcher averaged 18.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game with the Tigers while being named Florida Athletic Coaches Association District 16 Boys Basketball Player of the year and helping the Tigers to a 15-7 overall record and reach the regional quarterfinals of the FHSAA 6A State Tournament.

*Javon Bell:

A 6-4 wing, Bell committed to SCF and will join upon finishing his senior year at Santa Fe Catholic School in Lakeland, Florida. Bell was a two-sport athlete playing both football and basketball.

As a football player, Bell had 87 yards and a touchdown his junior year with the Hawks before primarily focusing on playing basketball. Bell finished his senior year averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.9 steals per game and finishing his career with averaging 16.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 2.1 steals per game.

In three seasons of varsity play, Bell tallied up 932 career points, 384 rebounds, 122 blocks and 122 steals with the Hawks.

Decorrian "DK" Kelly:

A 6-1 guard from Memphis, TN, Kelly will join SCF upon his completion of his postgraduate year at Huntington Prep in West Virginia. Prior to that, Kelly graduated from Bolton High School in Arlington, Tennessee where he averaged 16.4 points, six rebounds and 3.3 steals per game.

*Joe Stubbs:

A 6-4 guard, Stubbs joins fellow teammate Bell after wrapping up his senior year at Santa Fe Catholic School in Lakeland, Florida and was also a two-sport athlete playing football and basketball.

As a football player, Stubbs had 154 yards and two touchdowns before focusing primarily on basketball. Stubbs averaged 16.7 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists per game his senior year and 17.3 points, six rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for his career.

*Side Note: Both Bell and Stubbs helped lead the Santa Fe Catholic to the Regional Finals of the FHSAA 3A State Tournament before losing to Saint Andrews. They were both named to the FHSAA All-County Boys Basketball First Team.

Luke Lecroy:

Lecroy, a 6-7 wing, is another local product from Lakewood Ranch High School. A two-year varsity member, Lecroy helped lead head coach Jeremy Schiller to an 18-8 overall record (10-0 at home) with a 1-0 district record (7A) and to the regional quarterfinals of the FHSAA 7A State Tournament his senior year, while being named an honorable mention for the Herald Tribune Prep All-Area Boys Basketball Team. As a senior, Lecroy averaged 11.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

As a junior for the Mustangs, Lecroy averaged 4.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game while the Mustangs finished the 2018-19 season 24-7 overall with a 11-0 district record (7A) before being named the FHSAA 7A State Runner-Up.

James "Pop" Weathers:

A 6-0 guard from Baton Rogue, LA, Weathers joins SCF after completing his high school career at Glen Oaks Senior High School under the wing of head coach Harvey Adger. There he helped lead the Panthers to the state tournament for three straight seasons.

Rae Miller:

A 6-7 wing from Satellite Beach, Miller joined SCF last season as a walk-on after graduating from Riverview High School in Sarasota in 2019. 

As a junior with Satellite Beach High School, Miller averaged 8.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game before parting ways. Miller then tried out and joined in success, yet chose to redshirt due to an injury and to maintain his two years of eligibility.

Christian Nieto:

Like Miller, Nieto joined SCF as a walk-on last season. A 6-2 guard, Nieto joined after graduating from Lake Brantley High School. During his freshman campaign, Nieto started playing Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, Florida on the junior varsity team before transitioning to the varsity level his sophomore year.

After finishing the 2015-16 season with a record of 12-13, Nieto transferred to Lake Brantley his junior year where the team finished 8-18. Nieto averaged 5.8 points per game before parting ways. Nieto joined Miller as a walk-on for SCF in success, while choosing to redshirt. Nieto will play only this season and is hoping to transfer to a university with three years of eligibility remaining.

Darik Tannis-Harriet:

A 6-3 combo guard from London, England, Tannis-Harriet joins the Manatees as a walk-on for the team. He played his sophomore year with Florida Prep before playing the last two seasons with Victory Rock Prep where he averaged 19 points and 5.6 assists per game. As a member of Florida Prep, Tannis-Harriet helped lead the Falcons to the regional finals of the FHSAA 2A State Tournament.

Tannis-Harriet follows the footsteps of his older brother and SCF alum, Dominik. Dominik played for the Manatees during the 2013-14 season where he averaged 5.6 points per game in 13 games (three starts).

Tethloach Tut:

A 6-6 wing from Omaha, Nebraska, Tut joins the team as a late addition after graduating from Omaha Central High School.

As a member of the Eagles for his last two seasons on varsity, Tut averaged three points and 2.5 rebounds per game and helped lead the team to the NSAA State Championship twice where they were named the runner-up in the 2019 finals and placed in the quarterfinals in the 2020 state tournament. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game as a junior and 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a senior.

Big Returns:

Along with the newcomers, Parks brings back three returners for their sophomore campaigns: Jordan Clark, Marshall Kearing and Sam Grayson.

Clark, the lone returning local product from Booker High School, started all but one of his 33 games played where he averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. At the end of the Suncoast Tournament, Clark was named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team. In fact, Clark was the only Manatee named to the All-Suncoast Second Team. Clark's season-best scoring game was against ASA Miami scoring 27 points with eight rebounds.

Kearing started 30 of his 33 games played averaging 11.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game while completing five double-doubles. A native of Perth, Australia, Kearing joined Hodge and Dasher as a member of the All-Suncoast First Team in which his best game was in the Suncoast Conference Tournament Finals where he had 25 points, nine rebounds and a season-high eight blocks.

Although a majority of his season was a tough battle between a MCL injury and sickness, Grayson, a native of Ipswich, Australia, was able to average 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 23 with his best game against Santa Fe College where he had 10 points and five rebounds.

Scouting Chipola:

Chipola finished last season 18-10 overall with a 6-6 record in the Panhandle Conference (fourth place finish). They did not qualify for the FSCAA State Tournament.

The Indians will welcome their new head coach Donnie Tyndall. Tyndall joins the team after spending last season with the Detroit Pistons G-League team, the Grand Rapids Drive, as their head coach. He will bring 22 years of coaching experience to Chipola, which includes 18 years of collegiate experience at the NCAA DI level (LSU, Idaho, Middle Tennessee, Morehead State, Southern Miss and Tennessee) to as well as four years of experience at the NBA G-League level.

The Indians will be without five players, which include leading scorer Cheikh Faye, who averaged 12.4 points per game and Lat Mayen, their leading rebounder (8.4 rebounds per game). Mayen was on the All-Panhandle First Team, while Faye was on the All-Panhandle Second Team.

The main returners for the Indians include redshirt sophomore Marial Mading, Lance Irving and Ishan White.

Mading, a big man from Perth, Australia, finished his redshirt freshman year averaging 12 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He joined Mayen on the All-Panhandle First Team.

Irvin finished his true freshman campaign averaging 10 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

White, the team’s predominant sixth man, averaged 11.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season

Series History (2011-present):

Overall, the Manatees are 0-1 against the Indians, dating back to November 21, 2015 where they lost 100-70 at home.

How to Keep Up:

Fans can keep up with both teams on Twitter:

SCF: @SCF_Baskeball

Chipola: @ChipolaHoops

Link: https://youtu.be/2sB75Qqj60k