It was a win-or-go-home scenario for the Santa Fe College men's basketball team Monday.
One win was standing in the way of SFC from advancing to the 2009 Florida Community College Activities Association State Tournament.
SFC (22-7, 8-3 Mid-Florida Conference) squared off at home against Florida Community College at Jacksonville on Monday and walked away with a 63-59 victory but also a spot in the first round of the State Tournament.
"Jacksonville played extremely hard the whole game," Saints coach Chris Mowry said. "They had a lot of strength and a lot of speed, and it took us a while to get going at the beginning of the game."
FCCJ's Jamel Carpenter stood at the free-throw line with 44 seconds left in the game with his team down 61-56. After Carpenter made the first basket to pull within 4 points of the Saints, SFC faithful sat on the edge of their seats. Carpenter missed the second shot, only to have teammate Jimmy Gaskins Jr. tip it in for 2 and cut the Saints' lead in half.
Gaskins' layup was the last time the Stars would shine for the season. The remaining 35 seconds were spent fouling SFC players Aaron Holmes and Roderick Emanuel.
Holmes scored 22 points and sunk five 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Marvin Davis provided an additional 10 points.
SFC will play against Polk Community College in the first round of the Florida Community Colleges Activities Association State Tournament on March 5 at 1 p.m. The tournament will be held at Chipola College in Marianna.
PCC had coaches and staff at the SFC game Monday. The Saints defeated the Vikings 66-50 at home in November.
"Polk is very strong and works very hard on defense," Mowry said. "It has always been a knock-out, drag-down battle with them."
