The Indians trailed by as many as eight points in the second half but trimmed the deficit to 2 with 5.7 seconds left on a double-clutch 3-pointer from the right wing by guard Junior Saintel. Eagles guard Dirk Williams (20 points) was then fouled and hit only the front end of his free throws, allowing the Indians the chance to tie or take the lead.

To Blake, even being in the position to steal a victory at the end was dissatisfying, as he cited the Indians poor start.

"I mean I really thought our approach from the jump was terrible," Blake said. "Our guys didn't come ready to play. We were fortunate to be up at half."

Indians forward Ty Baker scored a game-high 22 points and kept Chipola afloat in the first half. Heading into halftime, Baker at one point scored 13 consecutive points for the Indians and 16 of their final 18 points in the half. During the stretch, Baker drained three 3-pointers.

"The only reason [for the halftime lead] was because of Ty Baker," Blake said. "But when you go 10-21 from the free throw line, you give up 23 points in transition and 12 offensive rebounds and your effort has not changed, it means you didn't have the desire to win."

Marrero recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with four steals. However Marrero and Saintel (8 points), the Indians leading scorer for the season, both shot 3 for 15 from the floor. Collectively, the Indians shot just 33 percent.

Reserve Elmo Stephen provided a boost off the bench for the Eagles, tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds. Additionally, the Eagles out-rebounded the Indians by 14, as a bevy of put-backs led to many second chance points in the second half.

Add it all up and you have a frustrated coach seeking answers. Blake believes if the Indians are going to turn things around in conference play, someone will have to step up and assert control on the court. The coach is concerned about the mentality of his group and is imploring for change from within.

"We don't have a leader. We have eight guys that care about themselves individually. The team goal of winning is not the most important thing to them. That's why we've lost every game that we have," Blake said. "When the guys want to come together to win, we win. When they don't, we sleepwalk, make it interesting, but we can never close it out."

The Indians have lost four of their last five games, with three of the losses coming by four points or less. Blake was optimistic for a spark with the beginning of the conference schedule but that's yet to be the case.

"You'd think after 12 losses something would click. This is what we've been dealing with now for 3 months," Blake said. "I was hoping conference time would kind of wake guys up but unfortunately it hasn't."

Blake says many of the Indians problems stem from a lack of effort, not anything systematic or lineup related. As a result, the coach is going to maximize the roster he has and remain faithful for a turnaround.

"When you only have eight [players] you're limited. We have the talent, we have the pieces, somehow we have to figure out how to get the heart and the desire to win," Blake said. "When you don't sprint back, when you don't box out, when you don't pursue the basketball----you can't diagram a play for that. The guys have to want it and for whatever reason we can't get that [effort] consistently."

The Indians travel to Northwest Florida State College on Jan. 17. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m