Gulf Coast men take 2 wins, Commodore women split pair
The Gulf Coast men's and women's basketball teams opened hit the road Friday and Saturday in Niceville and Melbourne, respectively, with the men winning twice and the women splitting a pair of games.
It was the regular season opener for the Gulf Coast women, who went to Melbourne and beat Santa Fe 78-57 on Saturday for the first victory over new coach Rory Kuhn after falling to Eastern Florida State 75-68 on Friday.
Anaya Boyd led Gulf Coast with 16 points in Friday's loss, with Imani Smith adding 15 points and Morgan Robinson 14 points. On Saturday, it was Robinson leading the way with 29 points and eight rebounds, while Ciante Downs added 15 points.
The Commodores will be in Marianna next weekend for a pair of games at Chipola against Seward Community College and Georgia Highlands.
The Gulf Coast men had already opened the season on Monday with an 84-78 home victory over Florida Coastal Prep.
The Commodores added two more wins to the ledger over the weekend, defeating USC-Salkehatchee 81-72 on Friday and following it with a 92-77 victory over Coastal Alabama-Monroeville on Saturday.
Chase Forte led the Commodores on Friday with 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, while Tay Hall added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Tauris Watson finished with 17 points and six assists, with Josh Reid scoring 10 points. Gulf Coast won despite top scorer Jammy Pierre-Louis going 0 for 10 from the field and 0 for 5 from the 3-point line.
On Saturday, it was Watson who led the way with 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting from
the field and 3 of 6 from the 3-point line. It was a balanced scoring effort beyond
that, with Kyle Murphy scoring 12 points on 4 of 7 from three, Forte 11 points and
eight assists, Pierre-Louis 10 points and eight assists, and Hall 10 points and six
rebounds.
Gulf Coast led 56-33 and extended the lead to as much as 34 points in the second half
Saturday. The Commodores will be back on the road next weekend for the Florida Shootout
in St. Petersburg with games against Daytona State and Polk State.