Polk State Shakes Off Injuries To Defeat Prince Georges

Final	1	2	T
Prince George's Community College	38	28	66
Polk State College (10-5)	33	41	74
Winter Haven,FL

Prince George's Community College	Polk State College
Pts: Tyler Logan - 22	Pts: Antonio Bishop - 27
Reb: David Duncan - 11	Reb: Ismaila Dauda - 7
Ast: Tyler Logan - 3	Ast: Tyquan Burno - 5

Team Statistics	Prince George's Community College	Polk State College
Field Goal %	40.6% (26-64 )	46.7% (28-60 )
Rebounds	38	45
Assists	9	12
Turnovers	14	16
Pts off Turnovers	13	9
2nd Chance Pts	6	15
Bench Pts	18	15

full stats

WINTER HAVEN – A hobbling Polk State College men's basketball team overcame holiday rust to win its fourth game in a row with a 74-66 victory Thursday over Prince George's Community College of Maryland.

The Eagles ( 11-5) shook off their sloppy first half and recovered from a nine-point deficit to hand the Owls their fourth straight loss.

Eagle spot starter Antonio Bishop (Chicago), a freshman, made the most of his starting opportunity with a game-high 25 points after missing the team's last game before the break with a sore knee.

"He was incredible," said Prince Georges coach Xavier Joyner. "He made a lot of tough shots that kept them rolling." 

Bernard Samuel (Charleston, S.C.) scored 14 for Polk. Ikem Eriobuna (Nigeria) and Ismaila Dauda (Nigeria) each scored nine for the Eagles.

The Eagles were without starter Shavanno Cooper (Freeport, Bahamas) due to injury and Nafis Walker (Philadelphia), who is ineligible for two games.

In addition, substitutes Jamal Evans (St. Petersburg) and Shaquille Bowman (Philadelphia) are both out with knee injuries.

Plus, starting point guard Brock VanLier (Beaver Falls, Pa.) went down in the game, returned and left again after falling hard. 

Bishop and his teammates also shut down the hot Tyler Logan  and David Duncan after the break. Logan scored 22, 15 in the first half before the Polk State defense slowed him down. Duncan finished with 16 points.

"I told the team at the half we needed to shut those two down," said Polk State coach Matt Furjanic.

The Eagles received significant contributions from freshman guard Tyquan Burno, freshman guard Trey Brown and freshmen forward Eriobuna. 

"Burno is coming along with good minutes off the bench," Furjanic said. "Trey had great minutes in the first half. For Ikem it was his first real game action this year. He was big coming off the bench."

The Eagles trailed the Owls (6-8), an NJCAA Division III program which won its region title last year for the first time, by as much as nine points in the first half.

Polk took the lead with just under 16 minutes left in the contest on a free throw by Bishop.

Polk extended its lead to 61-54 following a 12-point run midway through the second half.

Polk plays Broward College Saturday on the road at 2 p.m.