Eagles beat Chipola, move into first in PC

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 9, 2021) – Tuesday's battle for first place in the Panhandle Conference standings between NJCAA No. 8/Region 8 No. 1 Tallahassee Community College and No. 14/No. 2 Chipola College lived up to the hype, with the Eagles claiming a 78-75 win inside the Bill Hebrock Eagledome. 

With the victory, Tallahassee (14-2) improved to 8-2 in league play, a half-game ahead of Chipola (13-4), who fell to 8-3. 

The second half alone featured six ties and 11 lead changes, with the last unfolding just as the clock ticked under one minute to play. 

With the game tied at 74 and Chipola in possession of the ball, Shawn Walker stripped Carlos Lemus as he penetrated the paint. Walker got the ball into the hands of El Ellis, who found Chris Hampton ahead of the pack for a two-handed slam to put the Eagles in front by two with 52.4 seconds left. 

Chipola came up empty on its ensuing possession, and Ellis subsequently hit two free throws with 14.3 seconds left to increase the Eagles' lead to four. The game was far from over, however. 

A defensive foul sent Chipola to the free throw line, where Jaeden Zackery hit the front end of a one-and-one and came up with the rebound after missing the second attempt. Following a timeout with 8.1 seconds left, Zackery's would-be game-tying three hit the front of the rim; Ellis came up with the rebound and dribbled out the final two seconds. 

Ellis finished with 23 points and 10 assists and led all players with eight rebounds. 

Walker, who started 4-for-4 from three-point range, finished with 19 points. Jeremiah Kendall had 15 on 6-of-7 shooting. 

Chipola surged to a six-point lead on two different occasions in the second half, but an 11-3 run gave Tallahassee a 59-57 lead heading into the final ten minutes of the game. Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way. 

Before Ellis scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, it was Walker who tallied 16 points through the first 20 minutes. He hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes of the game – the last ignited a 14-4 run, which Ellis finished with a three and put the Eagles in front, 31-19, with 8:46 left in the half. 

Chipola answered with a 15-2 spurt to claim a 34-33 lead at the 2:20 mark. 

A basket by Walker and two free throws by Hampton helped Tallahassee take a 37-36 lead to the intermission. 

Chipola shot 63.6 percent in the first half and hovered near 70.0 percent over for much the game before cooling off down the stretch to finish 29-of-49 (59.2 percent) from the field. This translated to a 46-20 advantage in the paint for the Indians. 

Meanwhile, Tallahassee shot an efficient 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) in the second half and finished 25-of-50 (50.0 percent) for the game. Aiding its effort was 29 points scored off 22 Chipola turnovers.  

Tallahassee will take Wednesday off then travel to Northwest Florida State College for an 8:30 p.m. tip on Thursday against the Raiders.