In the first meeting between Chipola and Northwest Florida, Raiders' freshman guard, Brennan Rigsby hit seven three-pointers enroute to a career-high 23 points. The Raiders went on to win that game on their home floor by thirty. With nine minutes played on Saturday night at The Milt, Rigsby hit a three to give his team an eleven point lead and it appeared the Raiders picked up right where they left off two weeks before.
The three-point shot by Rigsby would be his only one of the night, however, as Coach Donnie Tyndall's squad clamped down on the high-powered Raiders offense and defeated the NJCAA's #3 team, 50-47. The Raiders, who were averaging more than 81 points per game, were held to their lowest point total of the season by the #11 Indians.
The Indians chipped away at the double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the first half. Dontae Walker hit two three-point baskets to help keep the Indians within striking range.
With 7:30 remaining in the first half, Nae'Qwan Tomlin picked up a Raiders' turnover and drove the length of the court to pull the Indians to within three. Less than a minute later, Kris Gardner did the same. Gardner picked up an errant pass and layed it up to close to within one, 18-17.
Northwest Florida's Deshawndre Washington pushed the lead back to four on the next possession with his third three-point basket of the game. Washington finished the game with 17 points, 11 in the first half.
The Indians managed only a free throw for the remainder of half but held the Raiders to only two points of their own. The two teams went to the locker room with the Raiders leading 23-18.
As has been the case many times in the Tyndall era, the Indians came out following halftime adjustments and quickly erased a deficit. After Washington scored the first points of the half for the Raiders, the Indians tied the game 27-27 with a 9-2 run, capped by Carlos Lemus's lone three-pointer of the night.
On the next possession, Kam Woods put the Raiders back up by two but it would be their final lead of the game. Faizon Fields put back a Lemus miss to tie the game and two possessions later, the Indians would get the lead, 31-29, following two free throws by Nae'qwan Tomlin.
The Indians pushed the lead out to nine, 38-29, when Lemus passed off to Fields under the goal for a thundering slam that brought the Chipola crowd to its feet with just under twelve minutes to play. The Raiders would not go away as they fought their way back with an 8-0 run to pull within one.
The Indians ended their five minute scoreless drive on a Kris Gardner drive to the basket to go up 40-37 with 6:45 remaining.
At the 5:45 mark, following a missed shot by the Raiders, Tomlin hauled in the rebound but was fouled by the Raiders' Washington, his fourth. Following the foul, Washington pushed Tomlin in the back and was assessed a techinical foul, sending the game's leading scorer to the bench for the remainder of the game.
The Indians held at least a two point advantage the remainder of the game and pushed the lead to six with 1:30 remaining following a defensive rebound by Gardner who threw it the length of the floor to Walker. Walker's layup was interfered with and the Indians took a 50-44 lead on the goaltending call.
Northwest Florida's Tre Clark cut the lead in half on a step-back three, reaching his tenth point of the night, all in the second half.
Following a defensive stop of the Indians, the Raiders would get a last second heave to tie the game but Clark's shot hit off the left side of the rim and fell to the ground as the buzzer sounded.
Gardner finished the game with 14 points. Lemus joined him in double-digits with 12.
Chipola moved to 19-4 overall and 4-2 in Panhandle Conference play, one game behind the Raiders (21-2; 5-1).
The Indians travel to Pensacola State on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.