February 22, 2010 Contact: Scott Jamison 352.395.5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SF MEN’S BASKETBALL
SANTA FE DEFEATS FSC-J, ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OF MFC TOURNAMENT
Gainesville, FL -The Santa Fe Saints (17-11, 5-4 MFC) defeated Florida State College-Jacksonville on Monday night, 77-61, to earn a spot in the Mid-Florida Conference Tournament Championship game tomorrow. The Saints will face Central Florida on Tuesday night in Ocala at 7:30pm.
“This was a great effort by our team tonight,” said Coach Chris Mowry. “It’s tough to beat a team three times in one season, especially since we just played them five days ago. There were no secrets for either team in terms of what the other team was trying to do. I’m very proud of the way the guys battled tonight.”
SF played well from the get go and jumped out to a nine point lead with 12 minutes to go on an Iran Hollis free throw. Hollis lead the Saints in scoring, shooting 7-for-7 from the field for 19 points.
Altavious Carter capped the half for SF with his seventh and eighth points on a fade away jumper, giving the Saints a 36-25 halftime lead.
“I thought FSC-J played very hard and applied a lot of pressure on defense,” said Mowry. “We were able to handle it offensively and that was a big factor in the game.”
FSC-J made a strong run at the beginning of the second half to cut the lead to six, but Santa Fe answered with an 8-2 run, highlighted by a Chad Renfro three pointer.
The Saints continued to stretch the lead, going up 72-52 with two minutes left on a Hollis three pointer, his third of the game. SF made their free throws from there and cruised to a 77-61 victory and a match-up with Central Florida tomorrow night.
Hollis led all scorers with 19 points and he also pulled down five rebounds. Altavious Carter scored 16 points with five rebounds and Chad Renfro had 14 points. Marlon Rivera led the team in assists with seven. As a team, the Saints shot 52% from the field (26-for-50) and 78.3% (18-for-23) from the free throw line.
“Iran Hollis came off the bench and gave us great minutes,” said Mowry. “He shot the ball very well and played hard on both ends of the court. Altavious was out for a week or so and this was the first game where I thought he was fully back and he made some key contributions on offense and defense.”
The Saints will travel to Ocala tomorrow for the Mid-Florida Conference Tournament Championship game against CFCC at 7:30. The winner will advance to the FCCAA State Tournament in Marianna, and the loser’s season will be over.
“This win gives us an opportunity on Tuesday to play one game for a shot at the state tournament,” said Mowry. “CFCC is a very talented team and we’ll have to be at our very best to come out on top.”
For complete schedules and more information on Saints Basketball, please visit www.sfcollege.edu/athletics. To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.
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