By Lauren Lettelier 

On Saturday December 15, 2009, the JUCO Men’s Basketball tournament commenced at Santa Fe and at Central Florida Community College. Teams from Junior Colleges around the state of Florida lined the bleachers, anxiously awaiting their turn to display their talent on the court. 

This particular tournament was a recruiting showcase for the participating athletes, said Mike Dugan, a UF intern in the Santa Fe athletic department. 

“The JUCO shootout gives players exposure to four year college recruiters from around the country.  It’s great for the kids that don’t see a lot of playing time because they might get an offer just depending upon their performance throughout this weekend,” said Dugan. 

This tournament also gives the audience who attends an opportunity to see five great games per day. We have some nationally ranked teams playing here this weekend so it’s fun to come out and watch them battle on the court.” 

Among the 19 teams in action on Saturday and Sunday, Central Florida Community College, Northwest Florida State College and Chipola College are ranked in the top 25 in the nation. 

#21 Marlon Rivera going for a layup. Photo by Jim Atyeo.

At Santa Fe, the Saints had two opponents to conquer: Pasco Hernando Community College (9-5) and Tallahassee Community College (11-2). Coach Chris Mowry and his team had a rough week leading up to this tournament, suffering some key losses. This weekend was a chance for the Saints to readjust their goals and get back on their feet.  

Despite their enormous efforts, the Saints lost to both Pasco Hernando 73-70 and to Tallahassee 93-71. 

On Saturday evening, the Saints tipped off against Pasco Hernando looking sluggish and tired. At half time, the score was 41-25 with Pasco leading the way. That 16 point deficit encouraged the Saints to insert some intensity into their game. With seven minutes left, the Saint’s point guard Marlon Rivera led them down the court and put them within seven points of tying with Pasco Hernando.  

With 4.9 seconds of competition left and the score at 73-70, Chad Renfro, a notorious three point shooter for the Saints, was given the opportunity to win or lose the game. On the last play, he attempted and missed the shot, giving the Saints their fifth loss of the season. 

After observing his team’s performance, Coach Mowry verbalized positive and negative evaluations.  

“We weren’t doing a good job of defending and continued to fail to make our perimeter shots,” said Coach Mowry. “I thought the guys made a valiant effort to come back from huge deficit in the second half but we just have to figure out how to start and finish games with equal intensity and focus.”  

Against Pasco Hernando Community College Chris Baez, a 6 foot 5, 190 pound UCF transfer, was the leading scorer for the Saints with 21 points. Other Saint standouts were Chuck Ford with 14 points and Iran Hollis with six assists. 

Sunday night’s action consisted of a contest against Tallahassee (TCC). The Saint’s performance in the first half was unlike their performance during the Pasco Hernando game: they were drawing fouls, making free throw attempts, and denying TCC opportunities to score. 

After the first half, it looked like Santa Fe was fulfilling Coach Mowry’s wish but the second half smothered any hopes of being victorious. TCC rallied back to defeat the Saints 93-71.  

Chris Baez is a UCF transfer and was the high scorer for the Saints in both days of the JUCO shootout tournament.

Chris Baez was the high scorer with 20 points, one less than Saturday which showed his consistent performance for the weekend. 

Despite struggling in Saturday’s game against Pasco Hernando, Marlon Rivera recovered on Sunday to score 13 points, have six assists and three steals.  

“We played hard in both games but we didn’t have enough time. In the first game, we didn’t display energy in the first half. Tonight against TCC, we didn’t bring enough energy into the second half,” said Rivera Everyone has been bringing all of their effort to the court, but we are playing better teams now and we need to bring it harder.” 

The Saints are 7-2. They return to action at home on Friday, January 8^th against IMG Academy at 6:00 pm.