February 15, 2012 Contact: Scott Jamison 352.395.5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SF MEN’S BASKETBALL
ROBERTS’ BUZZER BEATER GIVES SAINTS 74-73 OVER DAYTONA
Gainesville, FL – AJ Roberts made just one shot on Wednesday against Daytona State, but it was the biggest of the night. With less than a second remaining, he hoisted up a 30 foot jumper that sailed through the net as time expired, giving FCSAA #4/NJCAA #20 Santa Fe (23-4, 8-2 MFC) a huge Mid-Florida Conference win over the Falcons.
“This was an exciting basketball game from start to finish and I’m excited for our guys that we came out on top,” said SF coach Chris Mowry. “It was close the whole way and I’m proud of the effort our guys showed all forty minutes. AJ made a very smart play there at the end trailing Marko up the court and came up with a clutch shot.”
Brian Holmes was the catalyst all night for SF as he nailed five threes in route to a 27 point night.
The largest lead of the night for either team was a seven point advantage for Daytona, one time in each half. Besides that, it was never more than a four point lead of rather team.
Daytona led 18-11 with 11:43 in the first half, but Santa Fe fought back to tie it up at 23-23 on a layup by Paul Stone. DSC closed the half on a strong note, turning a 30-28 SF lead into a 32-30 halftime margin.
The second half was much of the same as both teams matched each other bucket for bucket. The Falcons managed to pull away for a couple minutes with a 7-0 run midway through the half, but it was short lived as the Saints answered with an 8-0 run of their own, sparked by two Brian Holmes three pointers, to retake the lead 56-55.
At the 5:55 mark Demarko Foster put Daytona up 59-56 with two of his ten free throws on the night. Marko Djekovic responded in a big way for the Saints, nailing back to back three pointers to put SF back in front 62-59. Not to be outdone, DSC’s Theo Plowden banged home a deep three on the ensuing possession to tie the score for the tenth time, 62-62.
Three minutes and four ties later, the game was knotted up at 71-71. Daytona State gathered in a loose ball following a Santa Fe miss and drove the length of the floor, drawing a foul with seven seconds left. Demarko Foster calmly made both free throws, putting the Falcons ahead 73-71.
Following the made free throws, Roberts inbounded the ball to Djekovic who drove the ball down the court with just seconds left. Trying to go behind his back just over half court, the ball bounced off Djekovic’s leg and into the hands of Roberts who lofted a shot towards the goal as the buzzer sounded, finding nothing but net.
The win keeps Santa Fe in the MFC hunt, and puts them in first place by a half a game over idle College of Central Florida. If the Saints win their two remaining games, the worst they can finish is in a tie for first, which would guarantee them a spot in the FCSAA State Tournament. Should they lose one of their remaining two, they would host the MFC Tournament championship game on Tuesday, February 28 against a team to be determined.
Brian Holmes led all scorers with 27 points, Paul Stone added 12 and James Williams had 10. Marko Djekovic led SF with six assists.
“Brian did a great job all night for us knocking down shots and handling the ball, Paul was solid on both ends of the court, James gave us everything he had for 20 minutes and Marko made two huge threes and was getting the ball to our scorers,” said Mowry.
“I’m very proud of our guys and also feel for Daytona, they played as hard as they could, we just happened to have the ball last. We will enjoy the win tonight and then get back to work tomorrow preparing for Florida State College.”
The Saints final regular season home game of the season is on Saturday, February 18 against Florida State College – Jacksonville at 4:00 PM.
For complete schedules and more information on Saints Men’s 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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