#17 Indians sweep Ronnie Myers Classic to move to 5-1

MARIANNA, Florida – The Chipola men's basketball team moved their season record to 5-1 after a sweep of Wake Tech Community College and Georgia Highlands College in the Ronnie Myers Classic hosted at the Milton H. Johnson this weekend.

On Friday night, the #17 ranked Indians took down Wake Tech (3-4), 67-49, then followed it up with a 66-54 win over Georgia Highlands (3-3).

Chipola will host Central Georgia Tech on Wednesday at 7:00 PM in The Milt.

Game 1: Chipola 67, Wake Tech 49

The Indians and the Eagles got off to a slow start in their first game of the Ronnie Myers Classic on Friday night. After the first twenty minutes of play, Wake Tech was shooting 29.6% from the floor and the Indians weren't much better at 32.3%.

Courtesy of Antonio Baker's eight first-half points, the Indians held a 26-21 lead when both teams went to the locker room.

The Indians had a difficult time pulling away from the Eagles for much of the second half. Chipola never lost the lead but found it difficult to get much separation from their guests from North Carolina.

With barely a minute played after the break, the Eagles cut the Chipola lead down to two and a had chance to tie the game at the line. Wake Tech missed both shots however and they would never get any closer.

The Indians' lead would ebb and flow throughout the first twelve minutes of the second half but they could not take a double-digit lead over the Eagles. With 8:34 remaining in the game, Wake Tech hit one of two free throws to close within six of the Indians at 46-40.

On their next two made baskets, Chipola stretched their lead into their largest lead of the game up to that point. Trent Lincoln then Donald Bangham Jr hit three-pointers to put Chipola up 52-40.

The deep shots seemed to take the life out of the Eagles and Coach Donnie Tyndall's squad turned up the defensive pressure. Chipola continued to grow their lead with a 15-0 run that was finally halted by a made free throw by the Eagles with less than three minutes left in the game.

Game Notes:

• The low scoring first half by the two teams was due to in part to a combined 1 for 19 performance from behind the three point arc. With less than three minutes left in the half, Donald Bangham Jr hit the only three-point basket to give Chipola a four-point lead.
• From the 9:30 mark in the game until less than a minute remaining, Chipola held Wake Tech to without a made basket from the floor. The drought was bookended by three-point shots from Eagle's guard, Gabriel Marquis.
• Four players scored in double digits for Chipola. Donald Bangham Jr and Markel Freeman each had 13 followed by Antonio Baker with 12 and Trent Lincoln with 10.
• Chipola held Wake Tech to their lowest scoring output, 49 points, in their recorded history.

Game 2: Chipola 66, Georgia Highlands 54

Chipola started day two of the Ronnie Myers Classic with a 13-2 run which included scoring the game's first nine points from four different Chipola players.

Chipola led the Chargers by as many as twelve in the first half. Although Georgia Highlands managed to cut the Indians' lead down to five with less than two minutes remaining in the half, Chipola closed out with a 7-3 run to take a 33-24 lead into the locker room.

Chipola led comfortably throughout much of the second half but with 4:30 remaining in the game, the Chargers cut the lead to four.

After Dean Coleman-Newsome hit a three to put Chipola back up by seven, the Chargers answered with a three of their own to once again bring the game back to within four points.

Coleman-Newsome, who was playing his first game of his sophomore season after an injury had sidelined him, hit another shot from deep. After a Chargers' miss on the other end, Trent Lincoln, who set his season-high output at 18 in the win, followed with a three of his own to push the Chipola lead back out to double-digits at 62-52.

The Chargers would get no closer than eight over the final two minutes and Chipola went on to cruise to a 66-54 win.

Game Notes

• Joining Trent Lincoln in double-digits was Antonio Baker with 14. Matthew Webster and Abraham Ibezimakor each had 10 points. Ibezimakor played at Georgia Highlands in 2023-2024 where he averaged 4.0 points per game.
• Chipola and Georgia Highlands have faced off seven times in the last four seasons with Chipola holding a 6-1 advantage over the Chargers. The only loss came a season ago on the Chargers' home floor in Rome, Georgia when the Chargers defeated the Indians, 68-67.
• Georgia Highlands is the defending Georgia State Champions. The Chargers joined Chipola at the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas a year ago. Trinity Valley ousted the Chargers in the first round, 61-54.
• Chipola held the Chargers to their lowest total of the season, 54. Georgia Highlands came into the weekend averaging 80.4 points per game.

Other games in the Ronnie Myers Classic

Gulf Coast also completed a sweep of the weekend as well as former Chipola assistant now Commodores' head coach, Lane Below, led his team to an 83-62 win over Georgia Highlands on Friday. The Commodores then took down Wake Tech on Saturday, 69-65.

The #17 Lady Indians easily handled Central Georgia Tech, 112-49, in their home opener.