By Brandon Vasquez | Talon Staff
The NJCAA announced earlier this month that Tallahassee Community College’s men’s basketball team will no longer be eligible to participate in this year’s postseason due to their post-game altercation with Pensacola State College on March 27.
More information has since been released via a Pensacola State College police report on the altercation, which led to one PSC player being taken to a nearby hospital.
According to multiple witness statements in the PSC police report, the altercation began around 9:30 p.m., moments after a pizza was delivered for TCC following the game. Domino’s employee Cameron Feathers said that the situation escalated when TCC guard DeAngelo Ware came to retrieve the pizza but was verbally confronted by Pensacola State forward Terry Durham.
It is not clear who threw the first punch, but assistant coach Dalmar Ali and multiple TCC players said that the fight began when PSC guard Dexter McKenzie got involved and swung at TCC forward Floyd Davis. Several TCC players retaliated after witnessing this and a fight broke out between both teams.
Officer Amanda Gary said that the fight grew into a large crowd of 50 or more individuals. Having to call Pensacola Police Department for immediate assistance, Gary and multiple other officers began pepper spraying the crowd in an attempt to de-escalate the fight.
According to the report, Gary was struck multiple times while trying to pull individuals apart.
Shortly after the crowd had settled down, EMS arrived to treat those in need of assistance.
“EMS ended up transporting PSC athlete, Dexter McKenzie, to Sacred Heart for a head injury,” Gary said in the police report. “McKenzie appeared to be disoriented on scene, and could not answer simple questions as to his birth date.”
The NJCAA declared the altercation a “non-collegiate incident,” ruling that the entire TCC roster will be charged with a “violent ejection,” which serves as a two-game suspension. TCC’s next scheduled games were to be the first round of the state tournament; teams must compete in the state tournament in order to be considered to move on to the national tournament. The NJCAA ruling ended the team’s season.
The news of TCC’s early postseason exit came on the same day that their first round matchup for the state tournament was to be announced. The 2021 FCSAA State/NJCAA District Men’s Basketball tournament took place from April 8-10 in Niceville, FL. Chipola College won the Championship against Indian River State College with the final score being 88-75.
TCC Athletic Director Rob Chaney said in a prepared statement from April 1 that the team and school has followed all FCSAA and NJCAA protocols since the incident, and will now use the experience to better themselves moving forward.
“While I am sad and disappointed to see our team’s season end in this manner, as a member of the NJCAA, we have a Sportsmanship Code to uphold,” Chaney said in the statement. “Anytime we fall short of that standard, there are consequences and, unfortunately, we will not have the opportunity to compete for a state and national championship.”
Chaney has not responded to multiple requests from the Talon to further comment on the situation as of this publication.
The Eagles ended their season with a 19-3 record and a share of the Panhandle Conference Championship. The NJCAA’s announcement presents the second straight season ending prematurely for TCC, with last year’s 27-6 season being cut short due to COVID-19.
