This past week the Florida State College at Jacksonville Men's Basketball Team (6-0) added two more victories to their totals with wins over Oakleaf Prep and Potter's House Christian.
On November 15th, the men hosted Oakleaf Prep in their third straight home contest. After trailing at the half, FSCJ rallied to win 90-67 with five players scoring in double figures led by sophomore Raheem Taplin's 17 points.
"While we aren't satisfied with how we came out to start the game, we turned up our focus and intensity in the second half," said Head Coach John Putyrski. "We aren't going to get into that habit and that was the lesson for the team."
The team seemed to have learned that lesson. In their next contest versus Potter's House Christian on Tuesday evening, the men came out firing and never trailed building a 44-14 lead at halftime and ultimately winning 92-40. The team was led in scoring by redshirt freshman Abraham Garjah's 19 points off the bench, but saw contributions from all over. Sophomore forward Roderick Gardner controlled the post finishing with 8 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Kuol Reech, who suffered from an ankle injury early in the season, was 1 rebound shy of a double-double finishing with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
"We know to be the best team we can be, we have to come out ready to compete at a high level every night," Gardner said. "We've shown we can be a good second half team, but we want an advantage going into half and not always trailing. We did that tonight."
The men's basketball team will enjoy a few days off for the Thanksgiving Holiday to spend with family and friends before coming back to campus. Their next contest is Tuesday, November 28th when they host Region VIII foe Santa Fe College at FSCJ's South Campus at 8:00pm to conclude their 5-game homestand.
To stay up to date with all the happenings on your FSCJ BlueWave and more exclusive content, follow us on Instagram and X @FSCJMBB.