After losing a heart breaker in the waning moments when the two teams met previously, Chipola left no doubt in their 87-58 defeat of Gulf Coast State College on Tuesday night in Marianna. The Indians had four players in double figures and held the Commodores to 35.2 percent shooting from the floor. The win kept the Indians in a tie for second place in the Panhandle Conference with Pensacola State at 3-2, one-half game shy of league leading Tallahassee.
The Indians raced out to an early lead in the first half, leading the Commodores by double digits, 16-6, after eight minutes of play. Chipola would never trail in the game and led at the half 38-24. In the first half, the Indians shot 51.5 percent from the floor while holding the Commodores to 9-of 24 shooting from the floor (37.5 percent).
In the second half, the Indians imposed their will on the Commodores shooting 19-of-26 (73.1 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Chipola held their opponent to just 33.3 percent in the second half.
"I was very proud of our defensive intensity tonight, said Head Coach Donnie Tyndall.
The Chipola men also had a strong night on the boards, outrebounding Gulf Coast, 39-22. Naheem McLeod led the Indians in rebounds with 8.
Lance Erving had another big night for the Indians, shooting 8-for-11 and scoring 20 points to lead all scorers. Three others joined Erving with double figures on the night. Nae'Qwan Tomlin had a season-high 19 points on the night and shot 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Jaeden Zackery added 11 for the Indians and Kris Gardner contributed 10.
"I thought every guy that played tonight had a positive contribution. We shared the ball and played unselfishly. That was a quality win over a well-coached and talented team."
The Indians (8-3; 3-2 PC) extended their home winning streak to eleven games and will play on the road at Pensacola on Saturday, February 20, at 7:30 PM.
Team Notes
- The Indians shot a season high 61 percent from the floor. It was the highest percentage by a Chipola team since 2019 when the Indians shot 61.7 percent against Tallahassee in a 98-72 win on February 13 of that year.
- Chipola's 87 points matched their season-high. The Indians also scored 87 against Pensacola State in their first matchup of the season on February 6
Indians are up 16-6 with 12 minutes left in the first half. Nae'Qwan Tomlin slams it home to give Chipola its biggest lead of the game.
— Chipola Hoops (@ChipolaHoops) February 18, 2021