Photo courtesy of Michael Schwarz
Photo courtesy of Michael Schwarz

Eagles fall in final seconds to Pensacola State

PENSACOLA, Fla. (January 23, 2016) - Pensacola State College's Hassani Gravett knocked down the game-winning 18-footer with five seconds left to beat NJCAA Region 8 No. 5 Tallahassee Community College 65-64 on Saturday evening in men's basketball action.

Gravett's game-winner came after Jahvaughn Powell's miss on the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds remaining and the Eagles clinging to a 64-63 lead.

Rashad Lewis took the inbounds pass coast to coast but couldn't connect at the buzzer.

The loss, coupled with Gulf Coast State College's win over Chipola College, cut Tallahassee's lead in half over the third-place Commodores in the Panhandle Conference standings. Instead of pulling within a half game of first-place Northwest Florida State, the Eagles (4-2) are now just one game in front of Gulf Coast State (3-3).

Tallahassee appeared on the verge of running away with Saturday's night game. A 13-3 run gave the Eagles a 30-17 lead with 6:43 left in the first half, but the Pirates outscored Tallahassee 13-2 the rest of the way and pulled within a bucket (32-30) at the intermission.

The Eagles had an answer each time the Pirates made a charge in the second half, mainly from long distance.

Lewis' three-pointer gave Tallahassee a 58-50 lead and Daishon Smith followed with one soon thereafter for a 61-54 advantage with 4:32 left in the game.

David Simmons' putback kept the lead at six, 63-57, at the 3:19 mark but that was the Eagles' final basket of the game.

Simmons finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Tallahassee. Smith was the only other player in double-figures with 14.

Tallahassee will travel to Chipola College on Tuesday evening for an 8:30 p.m. eastern game with the Indians.