TCC takes down #1 Chipola

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (January 21, 2023) — In front of a standing room-only crowd inside the Bill Hebrock Eagledome, #5 TCC improved their winning streak to 20 games with a 64-52 win over #1 Chipola. The win moves the Eagles into first place in the Panhandle Conference with eight games left to play.

"This is what college basketball is all about," said head coach Rick Cabrera. "The atmosphere was unbelievable, the game was unbelievable."

The game was tied at 24 at halftime, with both teams making it difficult to get off clean shots. The Eagles shot 10-26 (38.5%) from the field in the first half, but held the Indians to the same amount of field goals, just on eight more attempts, mainly because of their rebounding advantage. While Chipola continued to out-rebound TCC in the second half, the Eagles shot over 50% from the field after the break and knocked down five three-pointers, including a pair from Ja'Quavian Florence (G, Soph.)

TCC led by as many as 16 points in the second half, and had a chance to pull away, but Chipola kept the game close. With 1:39 remaining in the second half, the Eagles were holding on to a 58-54 lead. Then, with just over a minute remaining and the Eagles trying to milk the clock, Malachi Davis (G, Soph.) found Addison Patterson (G, Soph.) heading towards the rim on a backdoor cut and placed a perfect pass for Patterson to flush home. 

Patterson, coming off a 39-point game at Gulf Coast State, led the Eagles again in scoring, this time with just 13 points. Florence and Davis added 11 and 10 points respectively. Tom Mark (F, Soph.) scored 7 points but also added 12 rebounds. Mark's dunk with under a minute to play got the crowd out of their seats and sealed the win. 

"We have a deep, talented team," said Cabrera. "Addison gets us going but we've got other guys that get us going as well." 

The last time TCC beat the #1 team in the country was almost sixteen years ago to the day, when they took down #1 Chipola 97-92 in double overtime on January 20th, 2007. All-time, TCC is 5-10 when playing the #1 ranked team in the NJCAA. 

The Eagles take on Northwest Florida State this Wednesday at 8:00 PM. For the third consecutive game it will be broadcast on ESPN+ as the NJCAA Game of the Week. In the first matchup this season between these two teams, TCC went to Niceville and beat the Raiders 76-68.