TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — TCC Men's Basketball moved to 23-2 (6-1) on Saturday afternoon with a 100-92 comeback victory over Gulf Coast State.
The Eagles needed overtime to pull out the win, with the score locked at 82 at the end of regulation. Addison Patterson (G, Soph.) hit the game-tying shot with 30 seconds to go. Gulf Coast State had a shot at the buzzer, a deep three from Chase Forte, but could not connect.
"I'm a little speechless," said head coach Rick Cabrera after Saturday's game. "I have to come down to Earth a little bit right now. I'm just so proud of these guys for figuring it out."
It took a while for TCC to figure it out, they trailed by 12 points with under five minutes left in regulation. Once it got to overtime, it was all TCC. They outscored the Commodores 18-10, 12 of those points coming from Malachi Davis (G, Soph.), who went 6-6 from the field.
Davis scored a career-high 33 points, shooting 14-22 off the bench. It was the third game this season that saw a TCC player score at least 30 points, with the first two coming from Addison Patterson. He added seven assists.
"Everybody in the building, everyone on the team knows that Malachi is a phenomenal talent," said Cabrera. "I think he's one of the best guards in the country."
Ja'Quavian Florence (G, Soph.) shot 5-11 from the field and finished with 16 points, but some of his most valuable contributions came on defense.
"I think there was 2:27 left and we were huddling up," said Florence. "Me, (Addison), and (Malachi), we all said 'we're not losing. We're down five, we are not losing this game."
Florence had a dunk at the buzzer that was ultimately waved off by the officials. When asked if he thinks he beat the buzzer Florence said, "Of course I did."
