Men's basketball team falls in semifinals of Battle for the Boot Tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team fell short in the semifinals of the Battle for the Boot Tournament Friday night at the College of Southern Idaho.

The Titans lost for the first time this season, falling to North Idaho 77-71.

Eastern Florida State College got off to a good start behind a couple of 3-pointers from Sean Register Jr. and a third from Jevon Yapi to give them an early 14-8 advantage. North Idaho would go on a quick run and take a 15-14 lead halfway through the first half.

It would remain tight the rest of the first half but the Titans would take a 39-37 lead into the locker room.

The Titans took off in the second half and led by 11 with 9:25 remaining after a Tyson Wilson basket. The lead would get to 15 points before North Idaho began to chip away. With 2:14 remaining North Idaho took the lead 66-65 and would score 10 of the final 13 points to pick up the win.

Register once again led the Titans offensively, scoring 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Teammate Nick Oliver had 12 points off the bench while Lana Agbelese had 12 points and six rebounds.

Justus Haseley finished with a game-high 31 points for North Idaho, 20 coming in the first half.

Eastern Florida State College will play Clarendon College in the third-place game at 7 p.m. on Saturday. North Idaho will face host College of Southern Idaho in the championship game.