Men's Basketball Stunned by St. Petersburg Comeback, 63-60
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Santa Fe men's basketball's five game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday evening at St. Petersburg, when the Titans stunned the Saints with a run of 13 unanswered points down the stretch to complete an unlikely comeback.
First Half – SF 31, SPC 28
SF took their first lead of the game, 13-11, following a bucket inside from Nicolas McClain nearing the half's midway point.
The first half featured six ties, as the two sides went back-and-forth.
SF's largest lead in the opening half was five right before the half, 31-26, after a mini-spurt of five consecutive points on a three-pointer from Bradley Douglas and a second-chance basket from Nikolaos Noumeros.
Douglas had ten points after the game's first 20 minutes to lead the SF offense.
Second Half – SPC 63, SF 60
SF held their largest lead of the game, 60-50 with a little under four minutes left to play.
In the second half, the Saints led all the way until the final minute, as the Titans somehow found a way to string together 13 unanswered points to claim the victory.
St. Petersburg first went ahead at 61-60 with a driving layup in the paint with about ten seconds on the clock. SF failed to execute down the stretch and was unable to get an attempt up to the basket to take the lead (down one) or tie (down three) in the final moments, turning the ball over on two occasions.
Key Statistics
SF won the rebounding battle, 43-33, but were hampered by 14 turnovers.
The Saints were held scoreless for the game's final 3:50, as the Titans made their improbable push.
Douglas was exceptional in defeat, tallying an efficient 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 3-of-6 from deep, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
In the frontcourt, Nikolaos Noumeros had six points and seven rebounds. Brandon Farmer corralled 11 rebounds, and Kordell Brown came off the bench to provide nine points.
Up Next
The receiving votes Saints (18-5, 6-3 Central) hope to get back on track when they host Central Conference leading Polk State College (16-6, 6-1 Central) on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4:00 p.m.