MELBOURNE, Fla. – Santa Fe College Men's Basketball pushed No. 4 Chipola to the brink and came to play against one of the nation's best in the final day of the Florida JUCO Shootout, but the Saints suffered their first defeat of the season, 74-69.

First Half – Santa Fe 33, Chipola 30

Much as they did in the victory over then No. 3 Florida Southwestern, the Saints came out strong and confident to build an early lead.

SF had a 17-7 lead after the game's first five and a half minutes, spearheaded by ten quick points from Hasan Abdul-Hakim.

The Indians were able to draw to as close as four points, but a 13-6 spurt from the Saints gave them their largest lead of the game, 30-19 with 4:06 left in the half. G'Shan Aldridge hit two three-pointers during that stretch of play for the Saints' cause.

Chipola got to within a single possession at the halftime whistle on the strength of an 11-3 run, doing most of their damage from inside the paint and the free-throw line.

Chipola had no answer for Abdul-Hakim, however, who amassed 16 first-half points on 3-of-6 shooting from downtown.

Second Half – Chipola 74, Santa Fe 69

No. 4 Chipola was able to retake their first lead since the game's opening minutes on a triple, handing the Indians a 42-41 lead with 14:27 on the clock.

After a three-pointer from Bradley Douglas, Chipola rattled off nine unanswered points to lead 51-44, as the SF offense went through a bit of dry spell.

The Indians started to heat up from the perimeter, and staked claim to their largest lead of the game, 64-52, with seven and a half minutes to play.

The Saints were far from done though and began to chip into the deficit with some defensive stops and perimeter shooting of their own.

Nasir Mann contributed a triple off the bench, and Bradley Douglas sunk two from deep as well to help SF get right back into it. Douglas' second three-pointer in that time frame came with about 42 seconds left on an extended possession after multiple offensive rebounds, and Chipola's lead was trimmed all the way down to 70-67.

Out of a timeout, Chipola ran an inbounds play for a full-court pass that led to an easy basket, but SF countered on the ensuing possession with a Douglas driving lay-in from the left side to once again make it a three-point game, 72-69.

SF picked up full court and forced the Indians into three consecutive timeouts to try and avoid a turnover, and eventually, the Saints fouled with about 12 seconds left.

In the 1-and-1 scenario, the first free-throw rimmed out, but a disheartening offensive rebound tip-in from Chipola made it a two-possession game in the waning moments and all but sealed it, as SF was unable to convert a desperate three-point attempt on the other end.

Key Statistics

Chipola found more offensive success in the second half, to the tune of 14-of-26 from the field (53.8 percent), 8-of-16 from beyond the arc (50 percent) and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line (72.7 percent).

The Saints forced 16 Chipola turnovers, 10 of which were in the opening half, while the Saints had only 11 miscues.

Chipola held a 42-34 edge in the rebounding category, with none bigger than the offensive rebound tip-in from Nae'qwan Tomlin in the final seconds.

Abdul-Hakim finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds. Douglas had 17 points on 6-of-11 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the three-point line and doled out four assists as well.

Brandon Farmer chipped in with 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds, while Aldridge had eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Up Next

Receiving votes Santa Fe (4-1. 0-0 Central) will look to bounce back from the first defeat this season when it travels to play Pasco-Hernando State College on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m.