CFCC HANGS ON TO BEAT THE SAINTS, 69-66

January 28, 2010

For Immediate Release

January 27, 2010 Contact: Scott Jamison 352-395-5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu

SF MEN’S BASKETBALL

CFCC HANGS ON TO BEAT THE SAINTS, 69-66

Ocala, FL – The Central Florida CC Patriots (21-4, 3-0 MFC) handed the Santa Fe Saints (13-9, 1-2 MFC) their second straight Mid-Florida Conference loss, this time by only three points after losing to Daytona State by two in Gainesville on January 23.

“This was a tough loss again, especially after the close loss to Daytona, but I thought we played hard and defended well for most of the game,” said Coach Chris Mowry.  “We had a dry spell scoring with about 10 minutes to go and we weren’t able to fully recover from that.”

CFCC All-American Ricardo Ratliffe led all scorers with 28 points and also led in rebounds with 15.

Chris Baez (pictured) did what he could to match Ratliffe, scoring 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including five three pointers.

Central Florida held an early lead and with SF trailing 19-13 with eight minutes to go in the first half, the Saints went on a 10-0 run to go up 23-19.  CFCC kept things close the rest of the first half but SF was able to maintain their lead and took a 29-28 advantage into the locker room.

The score went back and forth in the second half, with each team taking turns with the lead.  CFCC was able to slightly pull away and led by six with 1:30 left in the game.  Chris Baez, continuing to keep SF in the game, made a 25 foot three pointer to cut the margin to three.

Down by three with seven seconds left and the ball in their possession, the Saints were unable to get a shot off and Central Florida held on for the Mid-Florida Conference victory.

“Central Florida played very hard and defended well,” said Mowry.  “You have to give them a lot of credit, they are a very good team.  It was one of those knock-down drag-out ball games and we came up just a little short.”

CFCC was 21-of-32 from the free throw line and Santa Fe was 10-of-14.

Baez led SF in scoring with 25, Chuck Ford finished with 12 and Branimir Mikulic had 10.

Santa Fe will travel to Jacksonville on Saturday to take on Florida State College-Jacksonville at 4:00pm in a Mid-Florida Conference contest.

For more information and a complete schedule, please visit santafesaints.com.  Join the Santa Fe College Athletics Facebook Fanpage for game photos, up to date info and more.

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