Box Score WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Polk State Basketball team pushed No. 3 Daytona State College to the limits on Saturday afternoon inside the Health Center. Polk State led by as many as five before ultimately falling to Daytona 95-87 to drop its fifth straight Citrus Conference contest.

The Eagles (12-16, 3-11 Citrus) fell to the Falcons (25-2, 11-2 Citrus), despite Cole White and Dominick Nelson each notching double-doubles. White led the Eagles with 21 points and recorded 10 rebounds, while Nelson scored 19 and brought in 10 boards. 

Polk State trailed Daytona 10-2 within the first two minutes of play. However, the Eagles responded by outscoring DSC 21-11, punctuating the run with a Malachi Stevens layup that earned Polk its first lead, 23-21, with 13:26 to go in the first half.

From there, it was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than five. A Karl Knighten Jr. layup with six seconds to go in the half gave the Eagles a 50-48 lead to take into the locker room. The 50 points are the most Polk State has scored in the first half against an NJCAA opponent this year. 

Daytona came out with the hot hand in the second half, while the Eagles struggled to keep the same pace as they set in the first half. The Falcons improved their shooting percentage from 45.2% (19-for-42) in the first half to 53.1% (17-for-32) in the second half, while Polk saw its shooting percentage decrease from 41.3% in the first half to 35.7% through the final 20 minutes of play. 

Ultimately, a 15-4 run by the Falcons left the Eagles trailing 89-76 with 4:16 remaining in the contest, which proved too much for Polk to overcome. 

"I am proud of our guys for competing and giving it everything they had in them," shared Polk State Head Coach Brandon Giles. "We kept in step with one of the top scoring teams in the nation and that is a testemant to our guys committing to keep getting better every day no matter how things have gone as of late."

A Ty Owens' half court buzzer beater trimmed the deficit to eight as time expired.

Polk State plays its final Citrus road game on Wednesday, as the Eagles head to Fort Pierce to take on Indian River State College. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.