JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe College men's basketball swept the season series with Florida State College at Jacksonville on Saturday, beating the Blue Wave for the third time, 76-63.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Santa Fe started with a 10-2 run, with Nasir Mann and Jalen Speer each putting in ten points.

Although Speer and Mann continued to shoot the lights out in the opening half, FSCJ settled in and traded shot-for-shot with the Saints all the way until the halftime horn with SF leading 41-39.

SF made eight three-pointers in the first half and turned the ball over just two times, but the Blue Wave were still well-within striking distance despite Mann's 21 points and Speer's 12. Mann was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from three-point territory in the first 20 minutes of action.

A three-pointer from FSCJ early in the second half gave the Blue Wave their first lead of the game, 46-45, but Nikolaos Noumeros countered with a long ball of his own. Noumeros' triple started an 8-0 SF run, and the Saints would never trail the rest of the way…

The lead was just two, 53-51 nearing the half's midway point, but another 8-0 run brought the lead to double-digits.

The Saints took care of business down the stretch and opened up the largest lead of the game, 76-60 in the final minute before FSCJ hit a three-pointer in the waning moments to account for the 76-63 final score.

KEY STATISTICS

SF shot an efficient 49.1 percent from the field and had ten triples.

The Saints also took care of the ball for the most part, committing just ten turnovers.

SF did well to defend without fouling, and FSCJ went just 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Mann's 25 points set a new career-high on 9-of-12 shootng, 5-of-8 from three, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds…

Speer added 18 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. Noumeros and Kordell Brown also reached double-digit scoring with 11 points.

UP NEXT

The Saints (14-11, 6-5 Central) will host Eastern Florida State College (19-7, 9-2 Central) on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the SF Gymnasium.