TCC falls at Chipola

By Luke Fay, fayl@tcc.fl.edu 

MARIANNA, Fla. (March 23, 2021) - Chipola College's men's basketball team got the better of Tallahassee Community College on Tuesday evening, winning by the score of 68-44. 

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak and marked the Eagles' lowest point total of the season. Their previous loss was in the same building in Marianna on February 23. 

Tallahassee took the 4-2 advantage to start the game following a Jeremiah Kendall lay-in with 16:16 left in the first half. This would prove to be the final time the Eagles held a lead. The Zach Settembre-led squad trailed by seven at half, 31-24. 

El Ellis knocked down a three-point jumper to start the second half making the score 31-27. The four-point deficit was the closest the Eagles would come the rest of the game. 

TCC could not cash in from three-point land, shooting 6-of-25 (28.6%). Tallahassee also struggled throughout the game against the Indians' pressure, turning the ball over 21 times. 

The Eagles did threaten late with back-to-back three-pointers by Josh Rubio that cut the deficit to 12 with 7:37 left in the game. However, the Indians quelled the threat with a pair of three-point makes of their own to push the lead back to an 18-point advantage with 6:32 left in the second half. 

The off-night shooting, coupled with a barrage of threes made by the Indians, who shot 9-of-22 (40.9 %), proved to be too much for Tallahassee in the end. 

Kendall led the way with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Rubio chipped in eight points going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. 

The 44 points is the Eagles' lowest point total since February 11, 2012, in a 47-40 loss to Chipola. 

Tallahassee,17-3 overall, dropped to 11-3 in the Panhandle Conference, and are now one-half game back of Chipola (12-3) in the conference standings. 

The Eagles will host Northwest Florida State College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.