As Santa Fe Community College (15-6) found out on Saturday, being at the top means taking your opponent's best shot every single game. St. Johns River Community College (15-8) gave them all they could handle in a 71-68 win that went down to the wire.
"It was a gutty win for us," SFCC coach Chris Mowry said. "We didn't play our sharpest game of the year, but certainly St. Johns River had a lot to do with that. They're a very athletic club and difficult for us to guard. But the guys hung in there and figured out a way to turn things around in the end."
It was a back-and-forth game, with 10 lead changes and 14 ties. Turnovers and missed layups hurt SFCC early on, but the team dug in defensively and sealed the win by shooting 60 percent at the charity stripe.
"We struggled with turning the ball over," Mowry said. "We weren't very sharp on offense. But we stepped up and made a lot of free throws, and a lot of rebounding again - that's been pretty consistent for us."
Freshman guards Roderick Emanuel and PJ Turner led the way for the Saints with 14 points and 12 points, respectively, and Zach Trapp and Jarrell Douglass each chipped in 10 points. Sophomore center Milutin Marjanovic had a big day defensively with nine rebounds and five blocks and also contributed nine points.
The Saints took the early 13-9 lead thanks to two consecutive 3-pointers from Trapp, but a jumper from the Vikings' Corey Roth put SFCC behind with 7:32 remaining in the first half.
SFCC managed to even the score twice but had trouble keeping up with St. Johns River for the remainder of the half. The Vikings stretched their lead to 32-27 with 1:32 left, but freshman guard Blake Hyden sank a 3-pointer, and Trapp closed out the half with a field goal and a free throw to bring the Saints within one.
The second half was more of the same, with both teams fighting for the lead. The Saints eventually jumped back in front, pushing the lead to 55-48 at the 10-minute mark thanks in large part to freshman forward Sasha Mirosavljev, who scored five straight points and also came up with big rebounds on both sides of the ball.
"Sasha played really hard and showed a lot of energy on the floor when he was out there," Mowry said. "I thought he gave us a big boost."
St. Johns River took the lead again at the three-minute mark, but Turner sank two straight baskets to put SFCC back on top for good.
The Vikings had two chances to tie the game in the last 30 seconds, but SFCC stepped up their defense and forced two turnovers to hold on for the win.
"It's been quite a while since we had a game where the last four minutes, it was anybody's game," Mowry said. "We could have folded, we could have let that get to us, but we kept our composure.
"I'm very happy with what we did down the stretch, because it's been a while since we've been in that situation, and I thought the guys handled that fairly well."
With the win, the Saints ran their winning streak to 11 games and also brought their record to 4-0 in the Mid-Florida Conference, which makes them first in conference play.
"We told our guys they have to realize that if you're on top, everyone's going to be gunning for you," Mowry said. "You better have your best effort, because they're going to bring theirs.
"Hopefully we can learn a lesson while we're winning. We better be ready to go against every opponent we play in this league, because last can beat first on any given day."
