MELBOURNE, Fla. – Central Conference play got underway for receiving votes men's basketball, and the Saints traveled to face Eastern Florida. In an overtime thriller, the Titans held off the Saints, using a last second three-pointer to prevail, 71-68.

First Half – EF 37, SF 30

Santa Fe got off to a strong start on the road, racing out to a 13-2 lead through the game's opening five minutes. Four of the six buckets for the Saints came from inside the paint, and Nasir Mann had a three-pointer.

The Titans dramatically turned the tide, however, taking their first lead with a 22-4 run, going in front 24-17 just under the seven-minute mark.

The Saints' cut the gap down to five on two separate occasions, but Eastern Florida had the half's final bucket and led by seven at the break.

Hasan Abdul-Hakim had a team-high eight points and four assists after the game's first 20 minutes of play.

Second Half – EF 62, SF 62

In the first few minutes, Eastern Florida's lead grew to its largest of the game, 15 points at 47-32, forcing a Saints' timeout.

It was Santa Fe's turn for a big run, scoring 21 of the game's next 24 points to regain a lead, 53-50 with 6:45 to play. Abdul-Hakim netted eight points during the stretch of play.

The game started to slow down in the concluding minutes of regulation, with each side countering one another and staying close.

With 20 seconds remaining, Eastern Florida took a 60-59 lead with two makes at the charity stripe. On the ensuing possession, Bradley Douglas was fouled with 12 ticks on the clock.

After clanking in the first to tie it at 60-60, Douglas missed the second. Nikolaos Noumeros, however, grabbed the loose ball rebound in heavy traffic and intuitively found Eddie Foster III with space underneath the basket for the go-ahead lay-in, 62-60 with five seconds left.

After the Titan's three-point attempt went off the front rim, the hosts were stunningly spared with a second chance lay-in of their own in the final second to force overtime.

Overtime – EF 71, SF 68

Kordell Brown gave SF a 68-66 lead with a basket inside with 1:24 on the clock, after a nice pass from Erin Farrington.

The Titans tied it at 68-68 with just under a minute remaining. Santa Fe came up empty with two three-point tries on the next possession, setting the stage for the Titans in front of their home crowd.

That's when Brody Boyer came through for the Titans, sinking a deep triple from the top of the key with just one second on the clock. After a timeout and needing to go the full court to try and stay alive, Santa Fe's final inbound pass up the court was intercepted in the Saints' third defeat of the season.

Key Statistics

The Saints were hampered by a season-low shooting night, going 25-of-70 from the field (35.7 percent).

Before fouling out at the end of regulation, Abdul-Hakim led the Saints with 19 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.

Brown came off the bench and added 11 points and five rebounds, while Farrington's SF debut featured eight points and five rebounds. Douglas finished with nine points, eight assists, and four steals.  

Up Next

Receiving votes Santa Fe (12-3, 0-1 Central) will take to their home court for the first time in 2022 against St. Petersburg College on Saturday, Jan. 15. The Central Conference contest is set to tip-off at 4:00 p.m.