TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (January 20, 2018) – NJCAA No. 4/Region 8 No. 3 Tallahassee Community College bounced back from Thursday’s loss to Northwest Florida State College and defeated No. 12/No. 4 Pensacola State College, 79-58, on Saturday evening.
Tallahassee improved to 17-2 with the win while Pensacola State fell to 17-3. More importantly, the Eagles evened their Panhandle Conference record at 2-2, just one game out of first place following Chipola College’s upset of Gulf Coast State College on Saturday.
Gulf Coast State and Northwest Florida State are tied atop the league standings with identical 3-1 records. Chipola and Pensacola State are just one game back of Tallahassee at 1-3.
Tallahassee and Chipola will open round two of league play on Tuesday in Marianna, Fla.
The Eagles led just 16-12 after the first quarter but outscored the Pirates, 27-17, in the second quarter to take control of the game.
A 7-0 run in the final 90 seconds of the half, capped by Dawn Gipson’s three-pointer at the buzzer, gave the Eagles a 43-29 lead.
The lead reached 19 (50-31) a little more than one minute into the third quarter and never dipped lower than 13 the rest of the way.
Tallahassee outscored Pensacola State, 16-9, in the fourth quarter – the 20th time this season the Eagles have held an opponent to single-digits in a quarter.
After being outrebounded by 18 in Thursday’s loss, the Eagles answered the bell on Saturday, posting a 54-42 advantage on the glass, keyed by double-digit efforts from Japonica James (12 rebounds) and Jamyra McChristine (11).
Both players recorded double-doubles as James tallied 16 points and McChristine, 14.
Jas Hill led the Eagles with 19 points. Juliunn Redmond scored 10.
Tuesday’s game at Chipola will tip off at 6:30 p.m. eastern.
