Daytona State men's basketball regroups after 1st loss in 18 games

DAYTONA BEACH — If given the option, Isaiah Dorceus would get right onto the court and run back Saturday's showdown with Eastern Florida. For a half, Daytona State struggled to get up to speed and knock down shots how it had for the previous 17 games — all wins, for the No. 2 junior college men's basketball team in the country.

Daytona State missed 25 of its 34 attempts from the field, committed eight turnovers and sunk into a 23-point hole. Climb as the Falcons might in the latter stages, pulling within five with 28 seconds left in regulation, they fell for the first time this season 94-88.

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"I want to play right now," Dorceus said. "I want to get back on that winning side."

Eastern Florida, ranked No. 21 in the most recent NJCAA Division I poll, has handed the Falcons each of their last three defeats. The visiting Titans, who entered the afternoon ranked third nationally in scoring defense (59.2 ppg allowed), snapped DSC's 22-game home unbeaten run.

And while the result is certainly a bitter one for Falcons coach Joey Cantens, his staff and players, it does little to diminish an impressive campaign to this point. Toughness and selflessness, he said, are the main ingredients to the team's success.

"These guys have been good at understanding the big picture — that it's about winning," said Cantens, a former assistant at Florida Gulf Coast. "At the Division I level, it's a business. And the business is winning.

"No Division I coach asks me how many points (a player) is averaging; they want to know how do they impact winning."

Daytona State can fill up the bucket as efficiently as any JUCO team in the land, averaging 100.1 points per game prior to Saturday. Cantens prioritizes possessions as opposed to points, and gives his players freedom — sophomore Josue Grullon, in particular — to fire regularly from long range.

Grullon, one of two NJCAA players to average at least 10 three-point field goal attempts per game, leads the Falcons in scoring (21.5 ppg) while converting at a 35% clip from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard set a season-high Saturday with 39 points on 14-of-28 shooting.

"In the first half, we tried to play one-on-one," said Grullon, who is generating recruiting interest from Fordham, Illinois and Oregon. "We were confident in the last two games. We've just got to hold on and do what we do."

Russian-born Victor Panov, who attended nearby DME Academy and transferred into Daytona State after spending one season at Cal State Fullerton, is the Falcons' lone D-I signee this cycle. He put pen to paper in November with Le Moyne, a Northeast Conference newcomer in Syracuse, N.Y.

However, Cantens said several other Falcons are getting their share of mid-major looks. Stephen F. Austin scouted DSC point guard Kylin Green (13.4 points, 5.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals per game) on Saturday, and Fordham recently offered forward Breylin Garcia (12.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg).

"Short memory" is a phrase Cantens harps on with his team, not only in this instance but after victories as well. Daytona State will aim to rebound Tuesday at home against Polk State before rounding out the month with trips out west to Hillsborough and St. Petersburg.

"(Eastern Florida) played really well; we played really bad. We have a loss and, really, it doesn't matter tomorrow," Cantens said. "I'm anxious to watch the film because I didn't think we played to our identity. We'll learn from it, but I am also big on the process. We'll do the same things we do every Sunday and Monday. That's what has built trust. Our players know exactly what's coming, never too high and never too low."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: No. 2 Daytona State men's basketball drops 1st game to Eastern Florida