The Pioneers Lose To Eastern Florida State College

The Indian River State College (IRSC) Men's Basketball Team traveled to Eastern Florida State College for a battle of the top teams in the NJCAA Region 8 Southern Conference.  Eastern took the early lead in the contest and built a 15 point halftime lead with the score of 47-32.  "Turnovers and missed defensive assignments caused us to get behind early in this game," stated IRSC Head Coach Charlie Wilson.

Shaun Willett 6'4" guard from Palm Bay, Florida, came out of the half aggressive and scored on two straight possessions cutting the Eastern lead to 47-36.  Indian River would not give up in the contest and continued to battle back eventually pulling ahead of Eastern 69-67 with 3:31 to go in the game.  A couple of turnovers allowed Eastern to regain the lead, and they were able to hold on for an 83-74 victory and sole possession of first place in the conference.  "We did a great job of battling back in the second half, but we let it slip away in the last few minutes," pointed out Coach Wilson. 

The Pioneers were led by Willett and Cedric Jackson (6'3" Guard, Orlando, FL) both totaling 17 points, followed by Willy Nunez (6'6" Guard, Orlando, FL) with 16 points, and Elijah Farley (5'8" Guard, Orlando, FL) added 10 points and 7 assists.  The loss dropped IRSC's record to 15-7 and 6-3 in the conference.