ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Santa Fe College men's basketball won its third straight game on Saturday, sweeping the season series with the St. Petersburg College Titans on the strength of an 85-66 win in the final road game of the 2022-2023 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Similarly to the previous matchup between the two teams, the Saints pulled away in the second half.

The Saints trailed for much of the opening half and were in a 39-32 deficit with a few minutes remaining.

A 7-0 Saints run would send the teams into the break all knotted up at 39-39. Jalen Speer had four points and Giovanni Baerga-Uselis hit a triple during the run, which saw SPC held scoreless for over three minutes.

The SF run extended at the start of the second half, and the Saints grabbed a 46-39 lead.

The Saints' lead was just four, 60-56, as the clock went under ten minutes to play.

A 14-0 run from SF put the game out of reach for the Titans. Nasir Mann scored eight points during the run, and Kordell Brown had two buckets in the paint.

The largest lead for SF came in the final minute, 85-64, and a basket from the Titans in the final seconds would be the game's last from inside the Gibbs Campus Gymnasium.

KEY STATISTICS

SF went 32-of-62 from the floor (51.6 percent) compared to a 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) outing from SPC.

Santa Fe outscored SPC 40-30 from inside the paint.

Mann was the game's leading scorer with 23 points on an efficient 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Brown had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Speer orchestrated the offense with 13 points and a season-high 14 assists. Nikolaos Noumeros totaled 14 points alongside Brown in the frontcourt.

UP NEXT

The Saints (16-11, 8-5 Central) will set their sights on a home matchup with Polk State College on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m.