The River Rolls #13 Eastern Florida

FORT PIERCE, FL - IRSC hosted the #13 ranked team in the nation, the Eastern Florida State College Titans, on Mike Leatherwood Court Saturday afternoon. EFSC headed into the game on a Region VIII leading nine game winning streak with all but one of the victories coming by double figures. The only single digit victory came on January 17th against IRSC where Eastern Florida escaped with a 72-67 victory over the Pioneers in Melbourne, Florida.

IRSC would avenge that narrow defeat in resounding fashion despite losing starting forward Kyle Brown who went down in the second half due to injury as well as star players Jayshayne Woodard and Deng Majak battling foul trouble throughout the game. The latter of whom would foul out with three minutes left in the contest. However, the River's resiliency was on full display as several players came off the bench to stem the tide for the Pioneers as freshman Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 12 points off the bench and Emmanuel Akot and Giorgio Franceschi would deliver on key three-point attempts. 

"I'm just so proud of our guys today. We had so many things stacked against us from injuries, foul trouble, a thinner roster and every single player who checked into the game for us played great," said Head Coach Bill Morosco. "Throughout the season, several players struggle with their role on the team and I always tell them that I don't know when their opportunity will come but when it comes you better be ready. They were ready today and we needed it."

IRSC took a 42-38 lead into half time and would extend the lead to 18 points with 13 minutes to go in the game before foul trouble and turnovers allowed Eastern Florida to trim the lead all the way to three. However, IRSC would bend but not break, opting for a zone defense to protect the two starters in foul trouble. The moved paid off as IRSC was able to stymie the vaunted Titan offense and pull away to a 83-71 victory, the Titans largest loss in Citrus Conference play.

"Eastern Florida is a great team. Easily one of the very best teams in the country, they were 22-3 for a reason. I think we proved today that no matter who's in or who's out for us that we can hang with anyone in the country."

IRSC was led by Mykol Sanchez with 27 points on eight three-point shots and Kyle Brown with 21 points and seven rebounds almost all of which coming in the first half before being unable to return for the final 15 minutes of the game.

The Pioneers hit the road for their next Citrus Conference match up against Hillsborough Community College in Tampa on February 21. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm. 

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