ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Santa Fe College men's basketball won on the road in Central Conference play on Saturday afternoon at St. Petersburg College, grinding out a 66-59 victory over the Titans.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Saints were ice cold from the field at the start of this one and converted just 3-of-19 to begin the game, falling into an early double-digit deficit.

The SF defensive effort kept them within striking distance, however. Trailing 23-13 with about four minutes left in the half, the Saints started to hit some shots to close the gap.

Three-pointers from Nikolaos Noumeros, Tom Di Maria, and Kordell Brown were all part of a 9-0 run, and after an SPC basket in the paint, Noumeros found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc once again to tie the game at 25-25.

Although the Titans scored the half's final basket to lead 27-25, the Santa Fe run was an important one to set the tone for the final 20 minutes of play. Despite only shooting 8-of-30 from the floor (26.7 percent), it was a one-possession game.

It didn't take long into the second half for the Saints to take a lead, their first of the game. A 7-0 spurt gave SF a 34-29 advantage, and in this game, runs of that size paid significant dividends.

Although the Titans were able to tie the contest on two more occasions, the lead would never change hands again.  

With the score knotted up at 56-56 with 3:22 on the clock, Tom Di Maria converted a go-ahead layup on a nice pass from Brown.

The bucket proved to be the start of six unanswered points for the Saints when it mattered most, as Nigel Martin had on offensive rebound stickback with 1:38 on the clock and two free-throws as the clock went under a minute remaining.

Although the Titans got what they needed with a corner three with 29 seconds left to make it a 62-59 game, the Saints took care of the ball and did well enough from the free-throw line to preserve the victory down the stretch.

UPDATED RECORDS

Santa Fe – 10-7, 2-1 Central

St. Petersburg – 4-14, 0-3 Central

KEY STATISTICS

Each team hovered around 33 percent shooting in the game, which became a slower-paced defensive battle, as has seemed to be the trend between the two sides in recent meetings.

A key difference came at the free-throw line, where SF went 19-of-29, as compared to the Titans 9-of-14 outing.

Santa Fe also had nine triples, whereas St. Petersburg went just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from three-point territory.

The 59 points allowed is the fewest allowed so far this season by Santa Fe. 

Four Saints had double-digit scoring performances, led by Brown's double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The rebounding total tied his career-high mark.

Martin had a solid game to finish with 13 points and a season-high eight rebounds, Noumeros contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Speer had 12 points of his own. Di Maria was effective down the stretch off the bench, scoring six points and corralling four rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Saints (10-7, 2-1 Central) will return to their home floor on Wednesday, Jan. 18 for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with Polk State College (6-11, 1-2 Central).