Men's basketball team falls short against No. 1 South Plains

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team fell short in the championship game of the Battle for the Boot tournament Saturday evening in Idaho.

The 23^rd ranked Titans lost to No. 1 South Plains 74-70 in a game that had 14 lead changes at the College of Southern Idaho.

Each team had slight leads early in the first half but an 11-4 run to finish the half gave South Plains lead 37-32. Felipe Patino opened the second half with a 3-pointer to cut into the lead but South Plains would go up by 14 points halfway through the second half as it looked like the Texans may run away with the title.

But the Titans responded with a 3-pointer by Joviel Acevedo-Arroyo sparked a 9-0 run by the Titans. Eastern Florida State College would continue to chip away at the lead and with 4:25 left a pair of Fredy-Salam Sylla free throws cut that once-big lead to just two points.

South Plains would get back up by six but Patino got a steal and basket to once again put the Titans within two points with 23.9 seconds left. The Titans had a couple of late chances but South Plains would hit some key free throws to lock up the win.

Sylla finished with another double-double, scoring a team-high 19 points with 11 rebounds. Emondrek Erkins-Ford had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Patino also finished with 13 points.

Eastern Florida State College (3-1) will be home on Tuesday night against North Florida Prep at 6:30 p.m. Admission to games at Titan Field House is free and you can watch the game live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.