GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe College men's basketball made a strong push in the second half against visiting Eastern Florida State College on Wednesday evening, but the Titans were able to come away with a 76-65 win inside the SF Gymnasium in Central Conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half was a forgettable one for SF. With 4:45 to play in the half, the Titans had doubled up the Saints to lead 32-16 on the strength of a 12-0 run.

Eastern Florida was doing most of its damage from beyond the three-point line, and its seven first half three-pointers helped the guests to a 42-28 lead at the halftime break.

The lead was quickly erased by a Saints' second-half surge. SF trailed 51-41 before rattling off 13 straight points. Nikolaos Noumeros had two three-pointers during the run, and Kordell Brown's long ball from the corner at the 13-minute mark is what handed the Saints their first lead of the game.

The two sides countered one another, and it remained close all the way to the seven-minute mark of the second half, when Noumeros sunk another trifecta to bring the SF deficit to just one, 61-60.

A game-changing 12-0 run from Eastern Florida, however, proved to be the deciding factor. The Titans went in front 73-60 with just over a minute remaining, as the Saints went scoreless for over six minutes while Eastern Florida remained hot from the perimeter, sinking three attempts from beyond the arc to put the game out of reach in the 76-65 result.

UPDATED RECORDS

Santa Fe – 9-7, 1-1 Central

Eastern Florida – 12-5, 2-0 Central

STATISTICS

The Titans were 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from three-point territory and shot better from deep than from inside the line.

SF forced 21 turnovers from Eastern Florida while committing just 11, but a 51-26 EFSC rebounding advantage and a 36.2 percent shooting night from the Saints proved to be key factors in the outcome as well.

Each team had four players in double-digits in scoring. Noumeros was the leading scorer for the Saints with 18 points, and he added five rebounds and five steals. Nasir Mann finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, Jalen Speer had 15 points and seven assists, and Brown contributed 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.

UP NEXT

The Saints (9-7, 1-1 Central) head to St. Petersburg (4-13, 0-2 Central) on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff with the Titans.