Basketball Move to 4-0 in Conference Play with Rout Over Pasco Hernando State, Extends Winning Streak to Six

The Florida State College at Jacksonville Men's Basketball Team (17-5, 4-0) jumped out to an early lead Saturday afternoon with a 24-6 run to open the game vs Pasco Hernando State College (1-16, 0-4). They never trailed, and the outcome was never really in doubt after the tip-off. Seven players scored in double figures for FSCJ, led by redshirt-freshman Jordan Smith's 18.

"I think the results of the game come from practice," said Smith. "Recently our practices have been more difficult and detail oriented. Our defense is improving, and our communication and selflessness is improving as well. We're coming together."

The team led 51 to 24 at the half. They continued to build their big lead the rest of the way with contributions from all over and brought home the victory 109-55.

"We were embarrassed by how we came to play on the road versus these guys last time, so that was the emphasis of our practices and film sessions leading up to today," said FSCJ Head Coach John Putyrski. "We've played well in spurts, but building a consistency takes real maturity, and we displayed that today with a full 40 minutes of effort and execution."

Freshmen guards Abraham Garjah and Aiden Fletcher helped fuel that consistency with their scoring and playmaking spark off the bench. Garjah finished with 17 points and 6 assists, while Fletcher chipped in 13 points and grabbed 7 boards. Sophomores Roderick Gardner and Tarence Guinyard each scored 12 points and took down 8 rebounds. Freshmen Eddie Mitchell and Alex McCray round out those in double-figure-scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

FSCJ looks to extend their 6-game winning streak and solidify its hold atop the standings with a challenging road matchup versus second place Palm Beach State Wednesday evening. FSCJ took the first matchup in the series vs Palm Beach State with a 73-61 home victory on January 20^th.

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