PREVIEW: Chipola ladies and men in action at The Milt tonight

MARIANNA, Florida – Another basketball doubleheader will take place tonight at The Milt when the #11 Lady Indians take on Southern Union State Community College at 5 PM followed by the #14 Indians battling Albany Technical College at 7 PM.

The Lady Indians will have one more game at home, Thursday at noon against South Georgia Technical College, but this is the last game for Coach Donnie Tyndall's team before the Christmas break.

GAME INFORMATION

Time: Women – 5 PM CST; Men – 7 PM CST

Location: Milton H. Johnson Health Center – Marianna, Florida

Streaming: WBB: #11 Lady Indians vs. Southern Union   MBB: #14 Indians vs. Albany Tech

Tickets (Cash at the door): $10 Adults; $5 Students (K-12; College); Chipola College students admitted free

Chipola Women's Basketball X.com account: @ChipolaWBB

Chipola Men's Basketball X.com account: @ChipolaHoops

Text Messaging Service: Sign-up

LAST TIME OUT

Coach Mitch Rolls and the Lady Indians continued their win streak to move to 12-0 with an 83-56 win over Lawson State last Saturday in The Milt. That win coupled with their 71-25 win over Enterprise State last week, moved the Lady Indians up two slots in the NJCAA Rankings to number 11. They remained at number two in the FCSAA Coaches' Poll, behind the state's only other undefeated team, Northwest Florida.

After building a sufficient 21-10 lead in the first quarter on Saturday afternoon against the Lady Cougars, Chipola's defense helped put the game out of reach over the next ten minutes. The Lady Indians outscored Lawson State 23-6 enroute to a 44-16 halftime lead. With Coach Rolls using the big lead to gain valuable playing time for his reserves, the Lady Cougars outscored Chipola 40-39 in the second half.  

Chipola's only returning player from a season ago, Mekhila Brown, scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Lady Indians. Brown just missed a double-double by also hauling in eight rebounds on the night. Following an injury that sidelined her for a pair of games, Chipola's leading scorer, Kanija Daniel, returned to the lineup to add 17 points. Aniyah Ruddock and Ahmani Klabunde joined them in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively.

The Chipola men mirrored the ladies as they also built a lead following the first half of play against Lawson State. The Indians were 17 of 28 (60.7%) from the floor in the first half to take a 38-26 lead into the locker room. Lawson State matched the home team point for point in the final twenty minutes but the Indians walked away with a 71-59 victory to move to 11-3 on the season.

Three players hit double digits in the win. Justin Burns led Chipola with 15 points. Trent Lincoln had another steady performance with 13 points and after struggling to get on the board in the last few games, sophomore Markel Freeman returned to his scoring ways with 11 points.

Coach Tyndall's squad also moved up in the NJCAA Rankings following their 2-0 week to #14, two spots behind Daytona State and one behind Northwest Florida. Those NJCAA Rankings mirror the FCSAA Coaches' Poll as the Falcons, Raiders, and Indians lead state's top ten.

Following tonight's game, the men will break for Christmas before returning to The Milt on Saturday, December 28 to take on Reid State Technical College.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT

The Lady Bison from Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Alabama, come into tonight's game with a 4-8 record. After starting the season 3-0, Southern Union has dropped seven of their last eight including the last three games.

The Lady Bison's last two opponents were to a pair of Chipola's Panhandle rivals. Pensacola got the best of Southern Union, 81-44, on December 13 and, on the next day, Gulf Coast ran away with an 80-29 victory.

Southern Union is averaging 53.4 points per game while allowing 73.9 points each outing. Freshman guard Takeriauna Mosley averages 10.6 points per game to lead Southern Union.

Albany Tech will return to The Milt for the second time this season. Chipola defeated the Titans on Opening Night, 69-57. In that game, after trailing at the half by four, Chipola doubled up the Titans in the second half to take the win. Markel Freeman scored 15 to lead the Indians in the win and sophomore guard Chase Hill led Albany Tech with 22.

The Titans are 5-6 on the season but have won four of their last five games, including an 82-80 victory over FCSAA school, Indian River State.

With a scoring average of 79.3 ppg, the Titans are led by Hill who gets 27.3 points per outing. Earlier this season in a game against Summerhill Prep, Hill scored 51 in the Titans' 124-59 win. Hill has scored more than 30 points in four games this season, including a 32-point performance in an 81-69 loss to Eastern Florida State College. The Titans are allowing 70 points per game.