TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) — Tallahassee Community College will host a pair of games Saturday to start conference play for the men and women teams.
The men are sitting comfortably at 16-2 on the season. However, Saturday will be a big test as Chipola comes in town for the first conference game of the 2019-2020 season.
TCC head men's coach, Zach Settembre, said Saturday's contest is the biggest game of his coaching career, thus far. He explained that tough conference play is what can help get the Eagles to the state tournament and then to the national tournament. "Our guys know that conference play is what separates the men from the boys," explained Settembre. "It's what separates teams that have the chance to go on and accomplish the ultimate, overall goal of winning a national championship, which was our goal when we took over this job."
Tip-off for the men is at 7:30 at Tallahassee Community College.
The game before that will feature the same schools but the women. The eagles are 9-5 overall and will come into Saturday's match-up on a loss to St. Petersburg College earlier in the week.
Head women's coach, Matt Huddleston, explained where a team is before conference play begins is all about how the beginning of the season is scheduled. "I think, basically, it all comes down to how you schedule, how you plan, how you practice going into conference play," said Huddleston. "My experience in the past, in college, in club basketball, high school basketball, I think at the end of the day, I think it all boils down to the same thing. The most competitive time of the year is in conference play. The most reward and the most risk is during conference play."
The ladies tip-off Saturday evening at 5:30.
