Jacksonville, FL - Cape Fear Community College opened its men's basketball season Friday night in Jacksonville, Florida with a 92-77 loss to Florida State-Jacksonville.
The Sea Devils led for a majority of the first half but as the halftime horn sounded they found themselves trailing 42-35.
Florida State-Jacksonville used an early 8-0 run to increase the lead to 15 behind sophomore Keith Williams. The Sea Devils cut the game to 13 points with six minutes remaining but could never seem to get over the hump.
Osandi Vaughn pumped in 26 points for Cape Fear. He was followed by JT Murphy's 15 points and teammate Anthony Vanhook with 13point and six rebound performance. Florida State-Jacksonville was led by Keith Williams's game high 27 points.
"I thought we played hard but weren't consistent enough to beat a quality team," said Sea Devils coach Ryan Mantlo. "We must grow up fast as our schedule doesn't get any easier for this young team."
Saturday marked the first ever meeting between Cape Fear CC and Atlanta Metropolitan College. The Sea Devils stormed out of the gate grapping a 7-2 lead behind freshman post Anthony Vanhook. Both teams jockeyed for positioning through the remainder of the first half, but it was CFCC who held a 44-40 halftime lead.
The second half started off much like the first with both teams battling back and forth. Atlanta Metro gained their first lead of the contest with 15 minutes remaining in the game and never looked back. A final push for the Sea Devils came up short as Atlanta Metro escaped with a 101-94 victory.
Cape Fear was paced by Anthony Vanhook's 30 point 11 rebound evening. JT Murphy also poured in a double-double, notching 24 points and 10 rebounds. Osandai Vaughn and Demarcus Sanford rounded out the Sea Devils double digit scoring with 18 points and 13 points respectively.
"We found out a lot about ourselves this weekend," commented Sea Devils head coach Ryan Mantlo. "We scored the ball with great consistency but we have to take pride in our defense."
The Sea Devils will look to do just that this weekend as they open their home campaign Friday evening in the Schwartz Center. CFCC battles Richard Bland Friday at 7:00 pm and Grey Military Saturday at 3:00 pm.