Men's Basketball picks up 20th win in Panama City

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (January 14, 2023) — TCC Men's Basketball moved to 20-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference play after a 93-82 win over Gulf Coast State on Wednesday night. The win ties the Eagles with Chipola atop the Panhandle Conference one quarter of the way through the league's schedule. 

It was a special night for Addison Patterson (G, Soph.), the reigning NJCAA Player of the Week. Patterson scored a career-high 39 points, smashing his previous career-high of 28 that came back on December 10th against Indian River State. His score line marked the highest for a TCC player in a Panhandle Conference game since Marcus Hatten scored 40 points against Chipola in 2001. Patterson also shot 16-19 from the field, finishing one field goal short of the school record set by Antwan Jones in 1998 in a game against FSC Jacksonville. 

"Obviously Addison is a very talented player and we know he's capable of scoring," said head coach Rick Cabrera, "but I don't think we've seen him be that locked in offensively yet."

Malachi Davis (G, Soph.) added sixteen points, going 6-10 from the field. It was his 11th game finishing in double figures, the second most on the team behind Patterson. 

While TCC didn't have its best night defensively, contributions from front court partners Okechukwu Okeke (F/C, Soph.) and Tom Mark (F, Soph.) helped the Eagles secure the victory in the second half. They each had three blocks. 

"I wasn't too pleased with our defense tonight," said Cabrera, "but our guys got locked in when they needed to and at the end of the day we won the game so I can't be too upset."

The Eagles host the #1 Chipola Indians on Saturday inside the Bill Hebrock Eagledome. Tip off is scheduled for 4:30 and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.