Box Score WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Polk State Basketball earned a pivotal win over St. Petersburg College on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles withstood a second half push by the Titans to leave with a 73-59 victory.

Second-chance points were a difference maker for Polk; the Eagles (7-12, 2-3 Central) earned 13 points off of offensive rebounds, as opposed to the Titans' (4-16, 0-5 Central) total of five second-chance points.

"Seeing our urgency on the boards shows me that our guys know what's at stake," said Polk State Head Coach Brandon Giles. "They understand how important these next 10 games are and how small our margin for error is if we want to accomplish our goals."

Another key to victory for the Eagles was the dominance of sophomore center AJ Hamrick, who finished with a season-high 23 points and six blocks -- five of which came in the second half.

Polk led by as many as 21 points in the first half, thanks to a 20-7 run that spurred the Eagles to a 38-17 lead over the Titans with 5:40 to go. St. Petersburg was able to whittle away at some of the deficit, trailing Polk 42-29 at the half.

Hamrick scored 15 of his 23 in the first half, going 7-for-8 from the field through the first 20 minutes of action and hauling in four offensive rebounds in the first half.

"I came into this game with the mindset of 'what is it going to take to help my team win?'" Hamrick said. "And I knew that was crashing the boards on offense. When we lose, we lose because of second-chance points. I wanted to make sure that wasn't the case today. Every game matters now and we have to keep competing with that intensity."

St. Petersburg opened the second half strong, compiling a 16-6 run to trim the Polk advantage down to 48-45 with 13:10 remaining in the contest. The Titans were able to keep within striking distance of the Eagles until about the four-minute mark. Up 60-53, Polk took flight with a 9-0 run to ice the game.

Polk freshman forward Dominick Nelson logged his second double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and bringing down a team-best 13 rebounds. Sophomore captain George Pridgett totaled 12 points and three steals for Polk. Sophomore guard Rod Jones dished out a season-high eight assists to accompany nine points scored. 

"At this point in the season, it's all about building momentum," added Giles. "I think we did a great job of building momentum heading into Wednesday's contest. I am most proud of how well we played together, which builds that momentum we need going forward. "

The Eagles begin their second round of Central Conference play on Wednesday, as Polk travels to Melbourne to take on first-place Eastern Florida State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.