By: Pat Clines

Bradenton, Fla - Sophomore Ametri Moss' game-winning layup and a costly inbound from off the ceiling Miami Dade (13-9, 2-2 Southern) helped the SCF basketball team (12-7, 2-1 Southern) come from behind and secure the win by a score of 65-64. With the win, the Manatees are now 7-6 against the Sharks and have moved up to a three-way tie for first in conference with #20 Florida Southwestern and Indian River State.

"While I'm trying not to look like a 'Debbie Downer' I was very excited that we won this game over Miami Dade," said head coach Tom Parks. "If I look back from last season, I thought we would take any kind of we can get in conference. I just think that sometimes I have high expectations for this team and they have high expectations in themselves. I can't remember the last time we had a game where all cylinders have been firing at the same time, which is nerve-racking and promising at the same time. I'm happy with the win, especially coming back from a 17-point deficit in the second half and coming back with 10 to 12 minutes left. I'm proud of the guys' effort to make a comeback like this, which is not easy for any team to do because many would give up after and the guys took the moment to fight to the end."

"We came out kind of slow and didn't come in with a lot of energy and aggression in the first half and Miami Dade jumped out at us and took us off our game a bit" said sophomore Ronnail Tape. "After that, we realized that we had to play harder than them to get the win and that's what we did in the second half, we took our shots, made stops and rebounded the ball."

"While we didn't play a good 40 minutes of basketball and they (Miami Dade) played harder in 30 of them and us fight in the last 10, we finally woke up," said freshman Elijah 'Slim' Terry. "I'm glad we did and at the end of the day, we made some big shots and had some good defensive possessions to help us close out the game."

"First half, I thought we had a slow start and we were just getting warmed up," said freshman Kasheem Grady. "Overall, we did great. We never gave up and kept fighting to the end. Everyone was playing and keeping each other up and just making sure we stayed positive to the end."

The first half was a slow start for both teams for the first three minutes of the game until the Sharks got a board with a 3-pointer before freshman Josh Ijeh hit a layup to put the Manatees on the board. Later into the game, the Sharks would take the offensive end on the 3-point shot, but the Manatees were able to cut it close to single digits with Moss and Grady leading the path. Despite the deficit, the Sharks too the first half 34-28.

At the start of the second half, the Manatees started to struggle on offense as the Sharks went on a 5-0 run until Grady made two free throws to give the Manatees their first points of the second half, but the Sharks would push back and be up by as much as 17 points.

After a media timeout, Terry would open the offense a bit for the Manatees with a 3-pointer un the right corner, but that would barely faze the Sharks as they would come back with one of their own, yet little did the Sharks know was that the Manatees were on the path of a comeback from part of the bench from Terry and sophomore Skylar Wicks as they would cut the deficit to single digits.

With five minutes left, with the score 59-53 Miami Dade, Wick would get fouled and sent to the line to shoot two successful free throws before Terry cut the Sharks lead to four points. A costly foul from the Sharks would send Terry to the free throw line to shoot two successful free throws before cut the deficit to one point with a midrange shot on the left wing with a 1:36 left.

With 41.7 second left in the game, the Sharks would inbound the ball, but as sophomore Elijah Hoard tried to extend the Sharks' lead to three, he would miss a long midrange shot to set up the opportunity for Moss as the native of Clarksville, Tennessee would secure the defensive rebound and go coast-to-coast with a layup and give the Manatees the lead with 18.2 seconds left.

After a Manatee timeout, the Sharks would inbound the ball with freshman Jamichael Stillwell holding the possession. As Stillwell went for the layup, but would miss his chance. As Wicks secured the rebound and drew the one-and-one foul, he would miss the layup and the Sharks would secure the rebound before calling the timeout with 0.9 seconds left.

As the Sharks would inbound the ball again, they would make a costly mistake as the ball would hit the ceiling of Hal Chasey Gymnasium and would be ruled out of bounds before the Manatees regained possession and got the win.

Four Manatees would score in double digits. It was Wicks that would lead the way one rebound shy of a double-double as he finished with 13 points (5-for-14 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 2-for-3 FT), nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. In fact, all of Wicks' points were in the second half.

Terry would follow with 11 points (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), five rebounds and two blocks.

"I always try to bring my energy every day," said Terry on his game. "Sometimes my points are not even, but I try to stay on the offensive and defensive glass and try to get my teammates going different ways that others don't, so that was my job today of being the energy guy to bring it every game."

Tape and Moss would rounded out the order with 10 points and seven rebounds each. Tape (5-for-11 FG) added two assists and two blocks, while Moss (4-for-11 FG, 2-for-2 FT) added three assists.

"At first, I felt like I was moving way too fast when I was throwing up my shots, but when the second half started my teammates helped me out a lot and recovered some big shots for me," said Tape on his game. "When I got back in, I just took a breather and was able to finish the game."

Grady, who earned his first start of the season, had eight points (2-for-9 FG, 2-for-6 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), four rebounds, one steal and a career-high six assists.

"It felt amazing," said Grady on his first start. "Just getting my first collegiate start was memorable and I hope to get more soon. I was just ready to work."

"I felt like I could have done better on shooting, cutting to the basket and communicating with my teammates, but I thought I had a decent game overall."

Sophomores Isaiah 'Ziggy' Josue (five points) and Cobey Harraway (two rebounds, one steal and one block) and freshmen Josh Ijeh (four points, five rebounds, two steals and a block), Dresean Knight (four points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal) and Malyk Rebetez (three assists) also contributed in the game.

For the Sharks, Elijah Hoard would lead the way in scoring with 14 points, three rebounds and one steal. Tyreik Weeks would follow with a double-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks before fouling out, while Jamichael Stillwell rounded out the order with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Indian River State (15-5, 2-1 Southern) defeated Hillsborough (13-6, 0-3 Southern) by a score of 92-80. The Hawks will take on #20 Florida Southwestern (14-4, 2-1 Southern) Saturday afternoon, January 21 at 4 pm.

Southern Conference Standings:

1. #20 FSW (14-4, 2-1)

2. Indian River State (15-5, 2-1)

3. SCF (12-7, 2-1)

4. Miami Dade (13-9, 2-2)

5. Hillsborough (13-6, 0-3)