#TCCBasketball: Eagle men beat Gulf Coast State in PC opener

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (January 6, 2018) – NJCAA No. 25/Region 8 No. 5 Tallahassee Community College won its Panhandle Conference opener on Saturday, defeating Region 8 No. 9 Gulf Coast State College, 91-73. 

Tallahassee has won three straight games to improve to 14-3 (1-0 PC) while Gulf Coast State dropped to 14-4 (0-1). 

The Eagles never trailed on Saturday, and the game was only tied once, a 14-14 deadlock midway through the first half. 

Fueled by seven straight points, including a three-pointer, from big man Corey Douglas, a 9-1 run pushed Tallahassee's lead to double-figures, 33-22, at the 2:13 mark, and the Eagles led 40-31 at the half. 

Tallahassee began to take control of the game with a 17-7 run to start the second half. Javien Williams' steal and breakaway dunk ended the surge and gave the Eagles a 57-38 lead with 14:41 remaining. Soon after, however, foul trouble began to set in for the visitors, leaving the door open for a Commodores comeback. 

Leon Freeman-Daniels picked up his fourth foul at the 13:48 mark and eventually fouled out late in the game. C.J. Fisher was whistled for his fourth two minutes later and Jacob Winston picked up his fourth later in the half. As a result, Gulf Coast State found itself in the bonus for the final 13 minutes but couldn't take full advantage, shooting just 11-for-22 from the charity stripe in the second half. 

The Commodores did get as close as 10 on two occasions, the last at 61-51 following a pair of Will Robinson free throws with 11:20 left in the game. Consecutive three-pointers from Williams and Jacob Winston quickly extended Tallahassee's lead back to 16. 

The Eagles put the game away with a 12-2 run, capped by a pair of Winston free throws for an 86-62 lead at the 3:52 mark. 

Tallahassee blistered the nets in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) and finished 30-of-59 (50.8 percent) for the game. 

Williams came off the bench to score a team-high 26 points. He and Chris Agbo (10 points) helped the Eagles' reserves to a 40-26 advantage over their counterparts. 

Three other players reached double-figures for Tallahassee. Douglas had 15, Winston finished with 13 and Quentin Jackson had 12. 

Robinson scored a game-high 27 points for Gulf Coast State. 

Tallahassee will play its PC home opener on Tuesday when it hosts Chipola College at 7:30 p.m.