The Chipola Indians men’s basketball team played host to the Panhandle Classic this past weekend at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center and won all three of their outings. On Thursday night they hosted Enterprise Ozark Community College and came away with a 101-67 win. Chipola jumped out to an early lead and led 57-29 at the half. The second half was more of the same as the Indians went deep into their bench with the big lead. John Taylor led Chipola with 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Lashay Page knocked down 20 points as he was 6-9 from beyond the three point arch. Steadman Short added 14 points while Marvin Fitzgerald and Delwan Graham added 11 points each. The game was a fan favorite as two former Marianna Bulldogs took the floor for the Enterprise Ozark squad. T.J. Spencer and C.J. Blount returned to their hometown for a matchup against the Indians.
On Friday night Chipola went over the century mark again as they downed Georgia Perimeter by a score of 106-66. The Indians led 15-0 to start the game and then led 58-36 at the half. Page led the team in scoring with 24 points, going 6-11 on three point attempts. Dexter Ellington followed with 16 points while Fitzgerald hit 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
The most anticipated game of the Classic came on Saturday night as the Indians hosted Central Florida, who entered the Classic ranked #4 in the nation. To add to the challenge Central Florida had fallen to Northwest Florida State on Friday night and were in no mood to lose two in a row to Panhandle Conference teams. And in one of the better games of the Classic, Chipola pulled out a 104-92 overtime win. The Indians got out to an 18-8 lead only to see Central Florida battle back and tie the game at 38-38 with just over two minutes left in the first half. Central Florida held a slim 40-38 halftime lead. In the second half Central Florida expanded their lead to 45-38 before the Indians mounted a rally. Steadman Short’s tip in five minutes into the second half gave the Indians a 51-50 lead. They pushed that lead to double digits but once again Central Florida battled back to tie the score late in the game. Central Florida had a chance to win in regulation but a great defensive play by Page sent the game into overtime. Chipola dominated the overtime period from start to finish and posted the 12 point win. Page led the Indians with 27 points while Short added 22 points. Ellington was the other Indian in double figures with 13 points.
With the three wins Chipola improved to 9-1 on the year and will be in Ocala this weekend for the Florida Shootout. On Friday they take on Palm Beach and on Saturday they square off against Hillsborough.
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