South Region play opened this week for TBC Eagles Men's Basketball as the team traveled west on I-10 to Pensacola on Wednesday to prepare for two against regional rivals. The Eagles then took the route to Laurel, Mississippi, on Thursday to face the Southeastern Baptist College Chargers before returning to the Panhandle to battle their namesake from Pensacola Christian College on Friday.

Southeastern Baptist won Thursday night's game, but Trinity Baptist came back on Friday with a strong outing to defeat Pensacola Christian.

Friday: Trinity Baptist 76, Pensacola Christian 73

Clutch free-throw shooting in the final minute helped fend off a PCC comeback effort on Friday as the TBC Eagles held on for the win. After Pensacola trimmed a 13-point deficit with 6:21 left down to 2 at 1:23, Xavier Rose drove from midcourt into the lane for the layup that made the score 71-67. Pensacola's Aaron Wagner responded on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer from the corner to pull his team to within 1 with 58 seconds left.

Diego Fernandez drew a foul at midcourt and then another just outside the paint that gave him a 1-and-1. Fernandez hit both shots to put the lead back at 3 with 39 seconds left. Zach Kiadii then sank two free throws of his own before Pensacola's Blaise Conlan hit a layup to make the score 75-72 with 12 seconds left.

Wagner for Pensacola and Ian Kanady for Trinity traded free throws to make the score 76-73, and Pensacola's buzzer-beating attempt to tie the score went astray.

[Ian Kanady hits the game-clinching free throw at PCC.]

Trinity jumped out to a 21-8 lead midway through the first half and expanded the lead to 18 points with 2:07 left in the period before entering halftime leading 39-24. Pensacola outscored TBC 49-37 in the second half on 56% shooting. Trinity shot 38.9% overall and hit 7 three-pointers and 13 of 18 foul shots. Pensacola hit 9 three-pointers (7 of 10 in the second half) and shot 45% overall.

Rose and Fernandez each scored 15 points to lead Trinity Baptist, and Kiadii (13) and Brandon Hill (10) also reached double figures. Kanady finished with 9 while Jace Spinelli had 7, Oramis Figuereo totaled 4, and DJ Thompson added 3. Every point was vital in the win.

Walker led the court with 24 points while Liam Gertz finished with 15 and Conlon contributed 11 to help lead Pensacola Christian.

Thursday: Southeastern Baptist 85, Trinity Baptist 74

Fernandez also scored 15 points on Thursday to lead the Eagles, and Anderson and Rose each followed with 11.

The Eagles fought back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to pull to within 1 several times after SEB led by 1 at halftime. However, the Eagles were unable to get the game-tying or go ahead score, and the Chargers used defensive rebounds to keep Trinity from getting many second-chance shots.

Southeastern Baptist never trailed at any point and pulled away in the final few minutes to put up the final score.

Up Next

The Eagles have four games remaining in the first semester of play. Trinity Baptist will visit a pair of NAIA opponents in the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick on December 9 and Southeastern University in Lakeland on December 11. The final exhibition games are with both of Jacksonville's NCCA Division 1 teams: Jacksonville University on December 14 and the University of North Florida on December 16. Those two games will air on ESPN+.

The bulk of the second semester of play is within the South Region, and 8 of the 13 total games are on the home court.