#TCCBasketball cruises in opener

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 2, 2018) – Tallahassee Community College's men's basketball team cruised to a 105-59 win over Lawson (Ala.) State Community College in Friday's 2018-19 season opener at the Seals Financial Tip-off Classic. 

The 46-point victory is the largest margin in a season opener for fourth-year head coach Mark White. 

Tallahassee rarely looked like a team playing with an entirely new roster. The Eagles never trailed, five players scored in double-figures and 11 of the 12 players who dressed, including walk-on Kennedy Martin, whose three-pointer with 1:25 left put Tallahassee over the century mark. 

Deven Palmer, a NJCAA first-team All-American at Quincy (Mass.) College last season, knocked down a three-pointer 35 seconds into the game to start the scoring. It was a sign of things to come. 

He hit all three of his three-point attempts in the first half and the Eagles were 8-for-12 as a team en route to a 56-28 lead. Tallahassee blistered the nets in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 20-for-28 (71.4 percent) overall while limiting the Cougars to just 7-of-24 shooting (29.2 percent). 

Tallahassee opened the second half the same as the first – with a three-pointer, this one courtesy of freshman Eric Boone, who finished with 17 points, five assists and three steals in his collegiate debut. The Eagles methodically extended their lead from there. 

The margin hit 40 at the 8:02 mark on a basket by Missouri State University transfer Mustafa Lawrence. Following Martin's three-pointer, Lawrence drained his third triple of the night in the closing minute to give Tallahassee a 51-point lead (105-54), its largest of the game.

Lawrence matched Boone with 17 points. 

Wake Forest University transfer Richard Washington led all players with 23 points and added 10 rebounds for the double-double. He and Boone each had five assists. 

Palmer and Salisu Yahaya finished with 11 points each.

Tallahassee and Lawson State were playing for the first time in almost 20 years – the teams last met on November 20, 1998, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Now they'll play twice in a week. The two teams will meet next Friday in Marianna, Fla.

Next up for the Eagles is a 2 p.m. game on Saturday against East Georgia State College, who dropped Friday's first game to Eastern Florida State College.

Eastern Florida State beat East Georgia State, 99-69, in the first game of the day.

Saturday's game can be seen live on TCCeagles.com

Tallahassee Community College Athletics would like to thank the Leon County Tourist Development Council and Chick-fil-A West Tennessee Street for its support of the Seals Financial Tip-off Classic.