Defense Keeping Men's B-ball in the Running

The FSCJ Stars Men's Basketball team picked up a much needed win at home against Daytona State College. The defense played lights out and held DSC to just 38 points in the game, forcing 11 turnovers. The Stars needed just 48 points of their own to secure the win, but low scoring games have been a trend all season. The Stars have struggled to make shots all season, and the game against Daytona was no different.

"Consistency," says Head Coach Neil Orr, "Especially on offense, that's what were looking for on a game-to-game basis. We just haven't been hitting shots."

The Stars have been mired in a shooting slump for most of the season. Players have had difficulty making reads out of their set plays and have not been able to control the flow of the game, which has resulted in nine difficult losses. Before the victory against Daytona, the Stars had lost seven of their last eight games

The Stars have looked impressive during stretches of the season as well. They started off hot, winning five-of-eight to start the season. During that run, shots were falling both at the free throw line and from behind the arc. Pair good shooting with the Stars' signature smothering defense, and they have the ability to hang with any team in the country as seen in their narrow defeat at the hands of Palm Beach State College, ranked 2nd in the nation in the pre-season two-year college poll.

"We just have to improve across the board," said Orr. "On offense, we need to find a way to exploit mismatches and get the ball in the hands of our best players."

The undisputed best player on the Stars roster this year is second-year man, Pierre Bland. Bland leads the team in points (12 ppg), rebounds (5 rpg), and assists (3.5 apg) so far this season. Bland's only Achilles' heel has been at the charity stripe. Bland has an innate ability to attack the rim and draw fouls, averaging nearly 5.5 trips to the free throw line per game, but when he arrives at the line, he makes just 69% of his attempts.

Despite their struggles, the Stars sit just one game below .500 with 11 games left on the schedule, with the bulk of them coming against conference opponents. If the defense continues its stellar play, and the offense gets rolling like it was early in the season, there is no reason why the Stars could not contend for a conference title.

The Stars are hosting conference rival College of Central Florida on January 21 at the South Campus Gym at 6 p.m. Be There!