Men's basketball team wins Battle for Boot opener

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team finished strong to pick up an opening-round win at the Battle for the Boot Tournament at the College of Southern Idaho on Thursday.

The Titans scored 111 points and defeated McCook Community College 111-101 to advance to the semifinals in the tournament.

Eastern Florida State College held a two-point lead with eight minutes to go but would go on an 8-0 run and go on to post the win to improve to 2-0.

The first half saw McCook take as much as a six-point lead but Sean Register and Nick Oliver hit some big shots in the final four minutes and Register hit a shot with eight seconds left to give the Titans a one-point lead, 49-48. But McCook Community College would hit a 3-pointer to take a two-point lead at halftime.

Register led the way with 12 points in the first half and finished with his second straight double-double. The freshman from Cleveland, Ohio finished with a team-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Oliver finished with a season-high 18 points off the bench for the Titans. Tyson Wilson also had 18 points to go with 11 assists for his first double-double while Joviel Acevedo-Arroyo finished with 16 points. Eby Ogoh had 12 points and seven rebounds in the win.

The Titans will play in one of the semifinals on Saturday in the tournament, facing the winner of the Casper College and North Idaho game.