GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Receiving votes Santa Fe College Men's Basketball (13-3, 1-1 Central) found a way to earn a hard-fought Central Conference matchup with St. Petersburg College, 55-53, erasing a seven-point deficit with five minutes to play.

The winning points came in the final seconds, as visitors from Alachua Elementary School were treated to a game that came down to the wire.

First Half – SF 24, SPC 23

The Santa Fe offense got off to a slow start, and didn't score until a basket from Eddie Foster III three minutes in.

The Titans took a 12-4 lead as the clock went under 15 minutes in the half, but the Saints started a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the game and go in front 17-12. Five different players scored during the run, which concluded with a basket from Hasan Abdul-Hakim with 8:42 on the clock.

The lead changed hands a couple of different times for the remainder of the low-scoring half, and the Saints held the narrow 24-23 edge after 20 minutes of play.

Second Half – SF 55, SPC 53

In the early going, six unanswered points from the Titans gave them a 31-26 lead.

SF regained a lead of their own, 35-33, when Brandon Farmer sunk a three-pointer with 14:38 to play.

The Saints went on another offensive drought, however, and St. Petersburg was able to rattle off 13 straight points of their own to establish their largest lead of the game, 46-35, with 11:39 to play.

The basketball was rarely pretty and often physical, but trailing 47-40 with just five minutes left, the Saints started to dial it in on both ends of the floor.

Nicolas McClain started the 11-1 spurt with an old-fashioned three point play. Foster III's bucket inside put the Saints ahead 49-48 with 2:40 on the clock, then Bradley Douglas ignited the crowd with a steal and emphatic dunk on the other end off the pass from Erin Farrington.

The Titans tied the game at 51-51 as the clock went under a minute, but Douglas then countered on the other end with a stepback jumper from the right elbow.

Two made free-throws from the Titans brought the score knotted up again, 53-53, handing SF the chance for a final possession.

Abdul-Hakim made a hard drive to the basket and was fouled with just three seconds remaining, calmly sinking both to put the Saints ahead 55-53.

After a timeout, St. Petersburg's final inbound pass was stolen by McClain, and the Saints moved to 1-1 in Central Conference play.

Key Statistics

Santa Fe overcame 20 turnovers and a 5-of-13 effort from the free-throw line in the victory.

The Saints did, however, win the rebounding battle by a 38-33 margin, and had six blocks.

Abdul-Hakim was the leading scorer for SF with 12, including what proved to be the game-winning free-throws. Douglas finished with 11 points and five assists, Foster III was solid in the frontcourt with six points and a team-high ten rebounds.

Up Next

The receiving votes Saints (13-3, 1-1 Central) will have another tough Central Conference battle on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at Polk State College (13-5, 3-0 Central). The game is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.