Men's basketball team faces Daytona State in battle of top teams

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team will hit the road for a battle between the top two teams in the Citrus Conference on Wednesday night.

The 16^th-ranked Titans will travel to No. 2 Daytona State College at 7 p.m.

"In this conference especially, playing on the road is not easy," Eastern Florida State College men's basketball coach Thomas Gray said. "It doesn't really matter the opponent, but obviously playing an opponent the caliber of Daytona State is going to be a challenge. I like our guys mindset, I like how they have performed on the road so far this year. I think our guys understand how tough it will be and understand how tough any road game is going to be."

It will be the second meeting between the two teams which met on January 18 in an overtime thriller. Daytona State College edged the Titans 80-75 in overtime at Titan Field House. On Wednesday night, the Titans try to even up the series and tie the Falcons in the conference standings.

"It was a tough one to swallow," Gray said. "I thought both teams had spurts that they played very well and both had some stretches where we didn't play our best basketball and I think obviously it averaged out to an extremely close, tightly-contested game."

All five starters for the Titans scored in double figures in that game and have been playing well heading into this matchup. Corey Caulker is averaging 18 points per game the past five games and Fredy-Salam Sylla has scored at least 10 points in 10 of the past 11 games and is averaging 14.6 points per game over those 11 games.

Emondrek Erkins-Ford is averaging 16.1 points per game this season and has scored at least 10 in 23 of the past 24 games. Chandler Watts scored a season-high 21 points against Indian River State College on Saturday.

"Our starting five has been super consistent, I love the way that they fit, our staff did a really good job of recruiting, we have four of the best assistants there are in the country and the way that they compliment each other is really good," Gray said. "I really think as good as they are doing, the difference in our team is how well our bench has played the last few games. That was a missing element the first time we played Daytona and we have been really challenging them to understand their role and see the impact they can have on this team."

Eastern Florida State College has averaged 89.6 points per game the past three games and has won every game since the loss to Daytona State College.

The Falcons are unbeaten in conference play this season and have won 21 straight games. Isaiah Dorceus is leading a team that is averaging 98.7 points per game. The sophomore guard comes into the contest averaging 15 points per game and had 22 points in the first meeting. Four Falcons are averaging double figures this season. Dylan Diaz and Huascar Cuevas each had 16 points in the Falcons win over Miami Dade College last Wednesday.

"I think all things point to it really being a fun college basketball game and our guys are up for the challenge," Gray said. "I know Daytona will be ready and they will have a great crowd. These are the games that you do this for, you don't have to get the team revved up. Both teams are going to be ready and excited about the opportunity and praying that we make the most out of it."

Admission to the game at Daytona State College is free and fans can watch the game live online HERE