Photo courtesy of Michael Schwarz
Photo courtesy of Michael Schwarz

St. Pete pulls away late to down TCC

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (December 30, 2019) – St. Petersburg College scored the game's final nine points to pull away from Tallahassee Community College in a 74-63 win on Monday afternoon. 

Tallahassee will take a 9-5 record into Panhandle Conference play, which opens on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. home date against Chipola College. 

After trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, Polina Nikulochkina's three-point play brought the Eagles within a basket, 65-63, with 2:33 remaining. That turned out to be Tallahassee's final points of the game, however. 

The difference was still two points until St. Petersburg scored in the paint with 1:10 left to double its lead and begin the game-clinching 9-0 run. 

Tallahassee led 20-16 after one quarter, but St. Petersburg erased the deficit and forced a 32-32 tie at the half. The game was still knotted at 40-all before the Titans went on a 7-0 run to grab control.