IRSC Men’s Basketball Team Takes On No. 1 Team In The Nation

The Pioneers took on the Number  1 team in the nation, Northwest Florida at the Juco Shoot-out in Ocala, Florida.  Northwest Florida came in ranked number 1 in the country with a perfect 13-0 record and IRSC with an 11-2 record unranked, but receiving national votes in the latest NCJAA Poll.   The game started well for IRSC with Shaq Rombley slamming home a missed shot to give IRSC the first basket of the game, but Northwest followed with a 3 pointer in the corner and built an early 12-7 lead.  The Pioneers continued to battle the much taller team and kept the game close throughout the first half.  IRSC cut the lead to 4 points 51-47 on a Kimani Binder jumper with 16 minutes to go in the contest and continued to battle the larger more athletic Northwest team.  "I thought our guys really worked hard today, they continued to compete throughout the game," pointed out IRSC's Head Coach Charlie Wilson.

Northwest Florida built the lead to as many as 18 in the second half, but IRSC clawed their way back cutting the lead to 13 with 1:58 to go and a chance to cut it to 10, but that was as close as the score would be as Northwest Florida went on to a 88-74 win.  IRSC's record fell to 11-3 on the season. IRSC edged Northwest Florida in the rebounding category 44-43 with Oliver Ehrnvall, Charlie Daniels, and Anthony Brown each pulling in 6 rebounds.  Cedric Jackson had a solid game for the Pioneers leading all scorers with 28 points.  Other scores for IRSC were Kimani Binder wit 16 followed by Deontae Weaver with 14 points.  The next action for the Pioneers will be at home on Wednesday, December 13th when they take on Florida State College of Jacksonville, a 5:30 p.m. tip.