Stress Test: Gulf Coast State heats up from downtown late, Eagle men drop to 0-3 in the Panhandle

By Brenden Martin
TCC Sports Information
@brendenmartin28

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (January 11, 2014) - The Tallahassee Community College Eagles came up short against Gulf Coast State College on the road, losing 80-72 on Saturday evening.

Tallahassee (11-8, 0-3 Panhandle Conference) came into Saturday night's game fresh off a hard-fought loss in overtime to Pensacola State College on Tuesday. At 0-2, the Eagles were looking to gain some positive momentum against a Gulf Coast State (13-6, 1-1) team that was trying to even up its own conference record.

This game was close all the way to the end. In the first half the two teams were nearly mirror images of each other. One team could not gain an advantage on the other.

For the game, there were four ties and seven lead changes. Tallahassee had a 33-32 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Earvin Morris was the highest scoring Eagle with 10 points at the half.

The second half was a tale of two runs. The Eagles started out strong, jumping out to a 12-point lead, their largest of the game. Basketball is a game of runs, however, and it was expected that the Commodores would have one of their own before the game was over.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Gulf Coast State's run came in the closing minutes. Most of the damage was done from behind the three-point line, where many of the shots were well contested but still found the bottom of the net. The Commodores shot 50 percent from three in the second half, hitting seven of their 14 attempts.

Big games from Morris and Cameron Naylor were not enough to overcome the Commodores' hot hand in the eight-point loss. Morris finished with 22 points and four assists. Naylor had thirteen points.

Saturday was a key chance for the Eagles to gain momentum in conference play as they head into arguably their toughest game of the season against Chipola College (16-1, 2-0) on Tuesday. Chipola is ranked No. 4 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Men's Basketball Poll. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. eastern.