Men's basketball team falls short in overtime

In a tightly-contested game between two nationally-ranked teams, the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team fell short in overtime to No. 6 Daytona State College on Saturday evening, losing 80-75.

The 21^st-ranked Titans had a chance to win in regulation, but the shot bounced out sending the game to overtime. In overtime, Daytona State College's Isaiah Dorceus hit two huge 3-pointers and scored eight of the Falcons 12 points to hand Eastern Florida State College its first conference loss.

The game was tied seven times during a first half that saw neither team get much of an advantage until a 10-0 run by the Falcons gave them an eight point lead with five minutes left in the half. Corey Caulker made a running layup as time was expiring and the Titans headed to halftime trailing the Falcons 40-33.

But Eastern Florida State College came out red hot in the second half, going on a 11-0 run to start the second half, taking a four-point lead on Joviel Acevedo-Arroyo basket. The Titans would continue to lead throughout the second half and were up by as many as 12 points with eight minutes left.

Daytona State College would shoot their way back into the game as Dylan Diaz hit a 3-pointer and was fouled for the four-point play. He would hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to three, 60-57. Chandler Watts had a couple of baskets to put the lead back to seven with 2:29 left. Daytona State College would once again hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to tie things up 68-68.

Eastern Florida State College got behind early in the overtime session and could not get the lead back.

Caulker and Emondrek Erkins-Ford each finished with a team-high 16 points while Watts and Felipe Patino each had 12 points while Fredy-Salam Sylla had 10 points.

Dorceus finished with a game-high 20 points.

Eastern Florida State College is now 4-1 in the conference and 15-3 overall while Daytona State College is 4-0 and 16-2 overall.

The Titans will be back at Titan Field House Wednesday night for another big conference matchup as Miami Dade College comes to town 3-1 in the conference. Wednesday's game will tip off after the women's game, around 7:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on WEFS-TV, channel 9 or 455 on Spectrum, 68 on DirecTV, 30 on Dish and 68 on AT&T Uverse. It will also be Alumni Game Day featuring halftime games and other giveaways. Admission to games at Titan Field House is free.