Eagle men upset Northwest Florida State, pull into first-place tie in PC

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 2, 2016) – NJCAA Region 8 No. 5 Tallahassee Community College ended a 13-game losing streak to Region 8 No. 1/NJCAA No. 8 Northwest Florida State College, knocking off the Raiders 90-85 in men's basketball action on Tuesday evening. 

With the win, Tallahassee (17-9) moved into a first-place tie with Northwest Florida State (20-4) in the Panhandle Conference standings. With four games remaining, both teams are 6-2 and have a two-game lead over third-place Gulf Coast State College. 

Down 68-65 with 8:47 remaining, Tallahassee scored eight unanswered points to swing the momentum one final time. 

Jahvaughn Powell, who scored a career-high 23 points, tied things up with a three-pointer then, on the Eagles ensuring possession, Austin Grimes' one-handed put-back slam gave Tallahassee a 70-68 lead. 

Powell followed with another three-pointer and the Eagles never trailed again. 

The Raiders pulled to within three on two separate occasions in the final 90 seconds but each time Rashad Lewis knocked down a pair of free throws to push Tallahassee's lead back to five. 

With 11 seconds remaining and leading by two, David Simmons made one of two from the line, giving Northwest Florida State a chance to tie. Dante Sterling, who made four three-pointers in the game, had a good look from the top of the key but couldn't get the shot to fall. 

Daishon Smith iced the game with a pair of free throws. 

The Eagles shot 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line. 

Lewis, like Powell, hit four three-pointers and finished with 18 points. Simmons joined Powell with 23 for Tallahassee. 

Early on, it was all Tallahassee as the Eagles raced out to a 30-12 lead less than halfway through the first half. Jared Wilson-Frame and Daryl Edwards knocked down back-to-back three-pointers igniting a 29-11 run that resulted in a 42-41 lead for the Raiders with 1:34 left in the first half. 

Northwest Florida State led 45-44 at the intermission. The Raiders' largest lead of the night was three points – 60-57 and the aforementioned 68-65 advantage. 

Tallahassee, whose perfect home record remains intact, will host Pensacola State College at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.