Tallahassee Deals #3 Northwest Florida Second Straight Bad Hand
(Feb 12, 2022) Tallahassee, FL – A forgettable week for the Northwest Florida men’s basketball team came to close on the road at Tallahassee on Saturday. Off the heels of a home loss to Chipola on Wednesday, the Raiders were anxious to get back on track against the Eagles.
After a sluggish start, NWF played great in segments for the remainder of the game, capturing momentum and even taking a lead late in the second half and it appeared as though the Raiders were going to check a mark in the win column for the third time this season against TCC.
Instead, NWF’s offense sputtered down the stretch and Tallahassee made timely shots to defeat the Raiders 71-67. The loss was the second straight for the Raiders, and third in the last six games. With the set back, Northwest sees their overall record slip to 24-4 and 8-3 in Panhandle Conference play.
The Raiders are in a dead heat for first place in the conference standings with Chipola. The Indians have the tie-breaker having beaten NW two of their three contests.
With the win, TCC jumps to 19-9, but rests in fourth place in the Panhandle at 4-6, one game behind Gulf Coast.
For the game’s first 15 minutes, the Raiders seemed to be a step slow before they gained their footing and turned it up to another level. Trailing by as many as 13 midway through the first period, the Raiders trimmed the deficit to just 4, and headed into the locker room down only 33-29. The run was spurred on by tough defense and a much faster pace on the offensive end.
The momentum NWF took into halftime carried over into the second half. The Raiders’ attacking style saw them race past the Eagles to take a 7 point lead midway through the period. TCC, however, climbed back thanks to the Raiders difficulty putting the ball in the basket. Many Raider misses turned into Eagle makes on the other end.
Clutch free throw shooting in the game’s final minute allowed Tallahassee to hold off Northwest and secure the win. Down 63-59 at the 3:18 mark, Hillsborough closed out with a 12-4 rush going 6 for 6 from the stripe. Anthony Thomas led the surge with a FG and 4-4 FTs, while Byron Smith also sinking 4 of 4 free tosses.
The Eagles received 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals from Thomas, and 12 points each out of Jack Doumbia and Dericko Williams. Doumbia added 5 boards, and Williams twinned his dozen points with 12 rebounds.
Northwest Florida was led by Deshawndre Washington with 18 points and 5 boards. Tre Clark contibuted 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Issa Muhammad went for 11 points with Kam Woods adding 10 plus five boards. Brennan Rigsby did not score but grabbed team high 6 rebounds.
The Raiders will have a week to regroup before closing out the regular season at home vs. Pensacola on Saturday February 19.
Tallahassee is coming on strong here at the end, having beaten #13 Chipola and now #3 NWF back to back. They will play at Pensacola State on Wednesday and return home to finish the regular season vs. Gulf Coast on Saturday.
