#TCCBasketball: Eagles drop fourth straight

MARIANNA, Fla. (January 23, 2018) – Region 8 No. 5 Chipola College handed No. 7 Tallahassee Community College its fourth straight loss on Tuesday, defeating the Eagles, 87-66, in men's basketball action. 

Tallahassee (14-7) has dropped four straight since winning its Panhandle Conference opener on January 6. Chipola (16-4, 4-1), meanwhile, strengthened its hold on second place in the league standings with the victory and pulled within a half game of first place Northwest Florida State College. 

Javien Williams led a trio of Tallahassee players in double-figures with 21 points. JaQuan Morris added 13 and Jacob Winston, 10. 

The game followed a script similar to the teams' first meeting in Tallahassee on January 9 – a nip-and-tuck battle for 20 minutes followed by a decisive second half from the Indians. 

Tallahassee scored the first five points of the game, all by Williams, and Chipola enjoyed a brief five-point lead (24-19) following Devante Carter's basket at the 8:39 mark. Other than that, the largest lead for either side was three points in a first half that featured four ties and ten lead changes. 

Chipola's Brandon Mahan's second-chance basket tied the game in the closing seconds of the first half and the teams went to the locker room deadlocked at 32. 

Tallahassee never led after the break. 

Chipola opened the second half with nine unanswered points, grabbed its first double-digit lead (45-34) at the 15:37 mark and never trailed by fewer than 10 points for the final 15 minutes. 

A 13-2 run midway through the second half extended the Indians' lead to 68-47and put the game out of reach. 

Chipola scored 55 points in the second half on the strength of 53.7 percent (22-of-41) shooting from the floor and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from distance. 

Tallahassee will look to snap its losing streak at home on Saturday against Gulf Coast State College. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.