WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Polk State Basketball came out with a lot of fight and tenacity on Sophomore Night. However, the Eagles were ultimately unable to overcome No. 13 Eastern Florida State College, falling 75-60 to the Citrus Conference champions on Monday.

Polk State (12-18. 3-13 Citrus) was out-rebounded 64-34 by Eastern Florida (26-4, 14-2 Citrus) and only scored three second-chance points to the Titans' 15. 

The Eagles opened the game on an 11-0 scoring run before EFSC rattled off a 14-3 run to even the game at 14-14. From there it was a back-and-forth affair in the first half before a late Carlos Cortijo layup gave the Titans their largest lead of the game at 30-24, which they would take into the locker room at the half.

The Titans saw their team shooting percentage increase by 24.7% in the second half, while the Eagles' shooting percentage dropped by 7% from half to half. Eastern Florida led by as many as 21 in the second half, as Polk struggled to keep pace. 

Sophomore captain Dominick Nelson shined in his final game in an Eagles uniform, scoring a team-high 22 points -- his 15th 20-point game of the season -- while dishing out a team-best four assists.

Sophomore guard Trayvon Osborne also excelled for Polk, scoring a season-best 21 points, shooting 5-for-10 from three-point range, which also marked his season-high in three-pointers made. 

"Our sophomores came out and gave everything they had," shared Polk State Head Coach Brandon Giles. "Obviously we wanted to be able to send them out with a win, but they represented themselves and the program well versus a very good Eastern Florida squad."

Polk State finishes the 2023-24 season eighth in the Citrus Conference and with a one-game improvement from last season.