Eagles advance in Niceville

NICEVILLE, Fla. (March 4, 2020) - Tallahassee Community College's men's basketball team advanced past State College of Florida in Wednesday's FCSAA State/NJCAA District Quarterfinals, 67-59, after overcoming a 13-point deficit with 15:39 left in the second half. 

The Eagles started out the first half ice cold from beyond the arc shooting 1-of-9 from the three-point line. TCC was only able to put up 26 points in the first half, trailing SCF 32-26 at the break.  

"This team has been through a lot," head coach Zach Settembre said. "Playing 12 Panhandle Conference games prepares you for being down in a game and really never being in a situation where you're going to panic." 

The second half is where things turned around for Settembre's group. The Eagles trailed 44-31 with 15:39 left in the contest. TCC would subsequently go on a 25-0 run to take the 56-44 lead with 7:07 left in the game. 

The Eagles took their first lead, 45-44, on a Kailex Stephens three-pointer with 10:47 left in the game. Stephens finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.  

TCC was sparked by the play of backup point guard Yahel Hill who ignited the rally by shooting 4-of-5 from the field. Hill drew a key foul on a three-point attempt along with a pair of clutch layups to keep SCF at bay. 

"We never gave up, we never thought we were out of the game," Hill said. "It was easy for us to rally back." 

The exhaustive preparation throughout the year has kept the Eagles understanding of the grueling postseason that has just begun. 

"Our league (Panhandle Conference) prepares us not only to win this tournament, but to have success in the national tournament," Settembre said. "Because of how tough, physical, and intense our league is I feel like, ultimately, that preparation is what gave us a chance to win today when things got tight." 

TCC shot 5-of-9 (46.9 percent) from downtown in the second half and 46.9 percent from the field. The Eagles flipped the script on a miserable first half shooting performance that saw the men shoot 32.4 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from beyond the arc. 

Sophomore shooting guard Tariq Silver finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half.  

Freshman guard El Ellis totaled 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from downtown. 

The Eagles will take on Eastern Florida State College in the state semifinals Friday at 4 p.m. eastern. 

"Jeremy Shulman is a guy who has been to Hutch multiple times," Settembre said. "He built Eastern Florida State from the ground up, and I have a lot of respect for him and his program."