The Santa Fe College men's basketball team (22-7, 8-4 Mid-Florida Conference) ended its season after falling during the first round of the state tournament to Suncoast Conference champion Polk Community College 65-63 on Thursday.
This was the Saints' third straight year appearing in the tournament and their third straight first-round loss.
"In sports, as in life, sometimes even when you work hard and try your best, things don't go the way you want them to," SFC coach Chris Mowry said. "It's just a life lesson."
SFC led by 14 at halftime and was ahead by as many as 19 points during the first half thanks to nine PCC turnovers.
But the second half was devastating for the Saints. They scored only 2 points in the first 8:56 of the half.
PCC took its first lead of the game with 13:26 remaining and maintained the lead until Saints sophomore guard Roderick Emanuel hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 58 with just over four minutes left. Emanuel scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half.
PCC tied the score at 60, then went ahead and never lost the lead for the remainder of the game.
Saints sophomore guard Aaron Holmes nailed a three with 46.9 seconds remaining to cut PCC's lead to only 2 points. But Holmes' attempt for a comeback came too late.
Holmes scored 14 points and shot 66 percent from the 3-point line. Emanuel and Holmes were SFC's top shooters this season. Holmes averaged 21.1 points per game and Emanuel averaged 15.8 points per game.
"We've never given up, and we play hard until the final buzzer," Mowry said. "I think that says a lot about our team and our character."
