Chipola Indians set school record

By DUSTIN KENT  
Jackson County Floridan

December 7, 2006

With a victory over Bevill State Tuesday night in Jasper, AL, the Chipola Indians set a school record by winning their first 12 games of the season.

The top-ranked Indians overcame a 9-point deficit with 7:00 to play in the game, outscoring Bevill State by 15 points to finish the game and take a 73-67 victory.

"We didn't play great by any means," Chipola coach Greg Heiar said of his team. "But we did enough to win. (Bevill State) was very athletic and that was a wild crowd."

Jamarcus Ellis led the Indians with 19 points, while Victor Dubovitsky added 17, DeAndre Thomas 16 and Mario Little 12.

It was Chipola's seventh game in 10 days, making the Indians' road performance all the more impressive.

"It says a lot about our team," Heiar said of the win. "Playing in that kind of environment and being without DeAndre for the last 7:30 of the game, it's a big win. That is the type of environment we'll play in on the road in the Panhandle Conference."

Of the new school record, Heiar said it was a great point of pride for his team.

"There have been a lot of great players and coaches here," the coach said. "There have been a lot of great teams that have won championships who didn't get off to this good of a start. I'm proud of these guys. It's easy to get complacent when you're winning."

The Indians trailed late Tuesday night by the score of 62-59 before an Ed Berrios 3-pointer tied the game with just over three minutes to play.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Dubovitsky gave the Indians a 68-64 edge and a long jumper by Ellis made it 70-66 Chipola with 1:30 to play.

Despite missing several free throws down the stretch, the Indians' defense prevented any late charge by Bevill State.