Tallahassee Community College men's basketball soaring into Panhandle Conference schedule

And now, the real season begins.

Tallahassee Community College men's basketball will begin its Panhandle Conference schedule on Wednesday at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

The Eagles (17-1), of FCSAA NCJAA Division II Region 8, are soaring while on a 16-game winning streak. 13 of those wins have been by double-digit margins with its latest being at home versus Florida Coastal Prep on Jan. 5.

Now, the Eagles are ranked No. 5 in the Week 8 NJCAA Division I National Poll.

"They're very coachable and bring it everyday," Eagles coach Rick Cabrera said. "They're not perfect, but they're always willing to learn and get better and lot of that has translated to wins.

"To me, the rankings doesn't mean much, but I understand it means a lot to these guys. But you got to humble them and understand it's just a number on a paper."

The Eagles' last win over Florida Coastal Prep was its 700th in program history as they thwarted their opponent, 129-59.

"It's a great honor of being part of that 700," Cabrera said. "It's been a lot of really good coaches that have brought a lot of those wins here and I'm honored to continue to that."

The streaking Eagles haven't suffered defeat in a month, losing to Southern Union State Community College, 82-79, in the Northwest Florida State Classic on Nov. 11.

"It humbled us," Eagles starting point guard Isaiah Cathey said. "We thought we were better than what we are and it made us really lock in.

"We've grown as a team every day and one game at a time. I've seen progress in every game and practice. More energy. More togetherness."

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There's no shortage of talent for the Eagles

The Eagles posses a lot of depth this season.

Four players were named to Juco Recruiting's Top 100 player rankings.

Guard Addison Patterson is ranked at No. 7 and fellow guards Malachi Davis (86) and Tom Mark (100) followed. Forward and center Okechukwu Okeke is tabbed at No. 15.

The Eagles have eight players averaging over five points per game, led by Patterson (17.9) and Davis (14.4). Okeke chips in with 10.4 and freshman guard Damoni Harrison averages 10.3.

Currently, TCC is ranked No. 16 in NJCAA Division I by averaging 90.8 points per game.

"We have good players from one to 13," Cabrera said. "Our depth has been a factor for us in wearing teams down.

“Scoring all those points is a credit to them and has nothing to do with my offensive plays. If we defend and rebound, I like to give them a little bit more freedom offensively."

A capable opponent lies ahead of the Tallahassee Community College

The Eagles will be faced with a tall task in traveling to Niceville’s Northwest Florida State.

The Raiders won the NJCAA Division I National Championship last season.

Thus far, they are 14-5 and have already played a Panhandle Conference contest, falling at Chipola College, 75-74 on Jan. 7.

"The talent in this conference is not what everybody in the country faces at the junior college level," Cabrera said. "On top of that, we got to play each team three times. These guys know that they got to be locked and loaded.

"We got 12 games and have to take it one at a time and see how it goes."

If anyone knows the challenges of the Panhandle Conference, it's Cathey. He's the team's only holdover from last season, so this isn't his first his first rodeo in the conference grind.

As the team gets on the road to Niceville, he's serving as a wealth of knowledge on how to navigate through the challenge conference.

"You can lose every night no matter what the opponent's record is and you can't overlook anybody," Cathey said. "Non-conference doesn't matter anymore. It's a whole new season and we're 0-0 now.

"Everyday counts and we got to lock in."

Game Information

Who: Tallahassee Community College at Northwest Florida State College

When: Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8:30 ET

Where: Raider Arena, Niceville, Florida

Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TCC Basketball: Eagles flying high with 16-game streak ahead of conference