Indians sink the Commodores, 62-40

Achor Achor dunks in the first half of Chipola's 62-40 victory over Gulf Coast. | Photo Courtesy of Joseph Daniel Williams
Achor Achor dunks in the first half of Chipola's 62-40 victory over Gulf Coast. | Photo Courtesy of Joseph Daniel Williams

Entering the night, the Indians' magic number was two. Any combination of Chipola wins or Pensacola losses adding up to two would give the Indians one of the Panhandle Conference's two automatic bids to the FCSAA/Region 8 Tournament.

The #18 Indians would get the win, 62-40, over Gulf Coast and also got help from Northwest Florida as they defeated Pensacola.

The Indians used a dominant performance on the boards and a stingy defense to take their third victory over the Commodores this season. The Indians out rebounded Gulf Coast, 43-23, and held the Commodores to 23.4 percent shooting.

It took the Indians some time to find their stroke, making just 9-of-26 shots from the floor in the first half, including 1-of-6 from behind the three-point line. Gulf Coast would lead by seven at one point in the first half but as the teams went to the locker room, the Indians led 24-19.

A 16-2 run from the Indians to start the second half would put the game out of reach. The Indians held the Commodores without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the second half.

Chipola shot 51.7 percent in the second half and led by as many as 27.

Carlos Lemus led all scorers with 13 points. Nae'Qwan Tomlin and Naheem McLeod also had double figures, scoring ten each.

The Indians moved to 15-4 overall and 10-3 in Panhandle Conference play. The Indians extended their home winning streak to fourteen.

From Coach Tyndall

"We defended pretty well tonight. We especially guarded the three-point line well. Carlos had a very complete game and Achor did some good things off the bench for us."