Santa Fe College Unable to Break Basketball Losing Streak

By Victoria Riccobono and Kennedy Lerner

The Santa Fe College Saints lost their fourth consecutive men’s basketball game, 84-82, Saturday against the visiting Polk State College Eagles.

Santa Fe was looking for its first conference win, but dropped to 0-4 and to 8-10 overall, while Polk State College improved to 2-3, 10-8.

Starting Strong

Coming into the game, the Saints averaged 72.9 points per game to the Eagles 85.2. Still, their close records made for an interesting matchup.

The Saints started out creating an early lead against the Eagles. Freshmen guard Karmello Branch led the team in points in the first half, scoring nine.

The Eagles’ eight fouls gave Santa Fe six free throws, helping it gain nine points.

Eagles Catch Up

However, the Eagles bounced back and began consistently scoring, defending the ball and leading in defensive rebounds. Polk State’s top scorer, Dominick Nelson, helped rack up nine points in the first half. With 10 minutes and 45 seconds left in the first half the Saints led by 16 points.

However, by the end of the half Polk State had caught up to only trail Santa Fe by three points, 44-41.

Second-Half Sweats

The second half definitely kept fans on the edge of their seats with a total of six score ties and seven lead changes.

Big plays came from Saints forward Predrag Panisic, who sunk three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the second half. Macius Trowe also had a clutch performance for the Saints by going five-for-five in free throw attempts, including a lead-taking two pointer with 2:24 left in the game.

On the Eagles’ side, Nelson stole the show with 15 points in the half.

Game On The Line

Saints trailed by three points with a 1:30 left in the game. A free throw by the Saints’ Jonathan Renois brought the game to 82-80, but he did not stop there. Renois tied the game with 13 seconds left.

Polk State then inbounded the ball on its end line with four seconds left. Ty Owens passed the ball to Cole White, whose hook shot pulled the Eagles ahead with just .06 seconds left and an 84-82 Polk State win.

SFC coach Chris Mowry praised his team for playing hard despite missing some players. The short bench created some issues.

 “Our struggle with them is their length and athleticism,” Mowry said of the Eagles.

Mowry knows the Saints will stay motivated in playing to get back in the conference race.

Up Next

These two teams will meet again Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in Polk County. But first the Eagles must travel to Daytona to take on the undefeated Daytona State Falcons (17-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Saints will stay home to take on Florida Southwestern State College (14-4) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.