Week in Review: #4 Indians hit the road and stay perfect

JC Curry scored 15 and Deyton Albury pitched in 10 as the #4 Indians defeated #8 Monroe College in the TCC Classic on Sunday. | photos courtesy of John Rushing
JC Curry scored 15 and Deyton Albury pitched in 10 as the #4 Indians defeated #8 Monroe College in the TCC Classic on Sunday. | photos courtesy of John Rushing

The #4 Indians began a five-game road stretch by going 3-0 with wins over South Georgia Tech, Henry Ford College, and Monroe College. The wins move the Indians to 13-0 on the season, their best start since the 2012-2013 team started the year, 18-0.

After traveling to Americus, Georgia to take on the Jets Tuesday night, the Chipola men played in the TCC Classic over the weekend at the Eagledome in Tallahassee.

Next weekend, the Indians will play two games in the FCSAA Shootout in Melbourne, Florida on the campus of Eastern Florida State College. On Saturday at 4 PM CST, Chipola will take on St. Petersburg College (2-9) before wrapping up their road trip with Florida SouthWestern State College at 1:30 PM CST on Sunday.

Chipola vs. South Georgia Tech, November 29, 2022

After a comfortable 40-30 lead after the first twenty minutes of play, the Indians fought off a second half comeback from the Jets to hold for a 69-64 win on Tuesday night.

Derrick Butler and Deyton Albury led the Indians with 17 and 16 points respectively. JT Warren chipped in with 10. Albury and Warren each pulled in seven rebounds to lead the Indians on the glass.

The Chipola men were strong on the boards, coming away with 41 rebounds, including 16 on the offensive end. The Indians shot 42.4 percent from the floor but managed just 8-of-30 from beyond the arc (26.7 percent).

Chipola vs. Henry College Ford, December 3, 2022

The Indians were too strong for Henry College, the NJCAA's #5 ranked team in Division II, on Saturday at the TCC Classic. Chipola took down the Hawks, 80-55, to continue their undefeated start to the season.

Chipola held the Hawks to their lowest point total of the season with seven steals, five block shots, and holding their opponent to just 19-of-63 (30.2 percent) from the floor. It was the fourth time this season the Indians held their opponent to below 60 points.

The game marked the return of sophomore guard, Cliff Davis, who had missed the first eleven games due to an injury. Davis came off the bench to lead the Indians with 13 points.

Zach Bell had 11 points and Albury had 10 to join Davis in double figures.

Chipola vs. Monroe College, December 4, 2022

On the second day of the TCC Classic, the Indians used a strong second half to pull away from Monroe College (10-2) in battle of the NJCAA's top ten teams.

After trailing by four at the half, #4 Chipola outscored #8 Monroe by 14 to take the 72-62 win and remain undefeated on the season.

Prior to the weekend, the Mustangs were also undefeated on the season but after defeating Pensacola on Friday in overtime, the Mustangs lost, 73-59, on Saturday at Northwest Florida.

Seven times in the first half the score was tied with the teams exchanging the lead six times.

With just over a minute left before intermission, Jatarion Warren made one of two free throws to pull the Indians to within one. Seconds later, the Mustangs hit a three-point bucket to carry a 35-31 lead into the locker room.  

The second half started the same as the first with both teams exchanging the lead over the first eight minutes.

With just over twelve minutes remaining in the game, a layup from Chipola's Kendall Moore broke a 46-46 tie and gave the Indians the lead for good.

With 6:47, a free throw helped the Mustangs cut the Indians' lead to four, but a 15-3 run over the next five minutes would give Chipola its largest lead of the game at 68-53.

A trio of shots from beyond the arc by Monroe's Keith Warren Jr. would help the Mustangs cut into the score over the final 90 seconds. The Indians were four-of-six from the charity stripe, however, to close out the game and thwart any plans of a comeback.

JC Curry led the Indians with 15 points followed by Albury with 10. Albury has reached double digits in 10 of the Indians' 13 games this season.