Eastern Florida Continues Its Hot and Cold Season
(Saturday, January 8, 2022)
Melbourne, FL – Eastern Florida State College opened Central Conference play Saturday afternoon in Titan Field House with a game against Polk State. Both teams have had rigorous schedules and similar records entering the game. EFSC came in at 10-5, Polk was 11-5. The Titans however, and rightly so, have been visible in the polls for several times season, Polk State has not.
Jeremy Shulman, entering his 12th season directing Eastern, has positioned them into one of the nations elite, having reached the elite eight at Hutch in five of the last seven years. Polk State has not enjoyed the same success, but based on the evidence so far this year, they certainly could claim to be one of, if not the best, 12 and 5 teams in the country.
The Titans own some big wins over ranked opponents this year, Chipola, at Harcum, and Spartanburg Methodist (RV). Losing to ranked Snow College and Shelton State, but also have three losses against unranked opponents.
The Titans have struggled at home as well. Eastern has won 90% of their games (99-11) inside their Field House over the previous 8 seasons. In the place where they only lost three games in five seasons from 2013-14 through 2017-18, the Titans are 4-3 at this point in the season.
On the other sideline, the Eagles five losses have come to three top twenty teams in Florida. Two setbacks from both Northwest Florida State and Florida SouthWestern State, and one to Indian River. Polk did avenge the earlier loss to IRSC right before the holiday break.
This game belonged to the Eagles, who walked away with a road W, downing the Titans 74-56. Polk held a 34-25 lead at intermission, and were relentless in pursuit of their 12 victory of the season. PSC is now 12-5, 1-0 in the conference.
Polk State held the Titans to their second lowest point production of the year and worst FG shooting game. EFSC went 19-57 from the field (33.3%), making over half of their FGs from outside the arc where they were 10-25.
“We came out on the wrong end against an outstanding team today,” stated Eastern Head Coach Shulman. “All credit goes to Polk. I love this (my) team and we will bounce back.”
Eastern, having at least a share of nine consecutive Conference titles under Shulman (Southern-5, Mid-Florida-3, and now Central-1) falls to 10-6, 0-1 in League play. Brody Boyer was the only Titan in double figures popping in 20, going 6-9 from distance. Seal Osajivbe dominated the boards, nabbing 11.
Eric Butler topped four Eagles in double digit scoring at 19. Keenon Cole was next with 18, adding five boards. Tommy Lewis finished with 15 and Freddie Word had 14 to accompany his 7 assists.
Surprisingly, EFSC had almost a two to one rebounding advantage over their guests, including 18 on the offensive end. However, many of those put backs missed the mark too. A glaring stat comes from the turnovers. The Titans had 20 miscues while Polk only committed 8.
That is the sixth game in which the Titans have had 20 plus, occurring in five of their six losses. Improvement in ball control might help correct some of their inconsistencies.
The Central Conference appears to be wide open this year, with these two teams being right in the mix. It should be interesting to watch.
