TCC Men's Basketball advances to Region 8 Semifinals

NICEVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2023) – TCC Men's Basketball defeated Florida SouthWestern State 75-69 on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament. The Eagles advance to the semifinals, where they will play the #7 seed, Eastern Florida State at 6:00 PM CST. 

"I'm really proud of our guys tonight," said head coach Rick Cabrera. "We weren't happy with where we were seeded in this tournament, but at the end of the day we can't control that. We can only control how we play, and tonight we did enough to advance in this tournament." 

Malachi Davis (G, Soph.) led the team with 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting and added five rebounds and six assists. Addison Patterson (G, Soph.) added 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Damoni Harrison (G, Fresh.) had a great night shooting, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. He finished with 15 points. 

TCC kept Florida SouthWestern from scoring for the first 4:32 of the game. After an early lead, the Buccaneers tied the game at 16, but TCC went on an 8-0 run immediately after and kept the lead for the remainder of the game.

TCC shot 55.6% from the field and held FSW to just 36.8%.  

The Eagles had an explosive second half offensively, shooting 63% from the field. Malachi Davis scored 14 of his 23 points after the break and helped TCC maintain their lead in the second half after Florida SouthWestern also found some offensive rhythm. 

Earlier this season, TCC beat Eastern Florida State 90-69 at the Florida College's Men's Basketball Shootout. Malachi Davis scored 26 points off the bench in that game, shooting 10-for-16 from the field. 

Tomorrow's game against Eastern Florida State will tip off at 6:00 PM CST, with the winner advancing to the championship game on Saturday evening at 7:30 PM CST.