ST. AUGUSTINE – The Flagler College men's basketball team finished in a tie for fifth place in the Peach Belt Conference and is the No. 5 seed in the league's tournament that begins on Wednesday with a quarterfinal game against the No. 4 seed USC Beaufort at the Sand Shark Recreation Center in Bluffton, South Carolina.

The winner of the Flagler-USC Beaufort game will take on the winner of the USC Aiken-Lander University game. The semifinal and final rounds will be played at the highest remaining seed left after the quarterfinal round. Those games will be played this Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets have to be purchased in advance on-line at https://events.hometownticketing.com/boxoffice/peachbeltconference/L2VtYmVkL2V2ZW50LzI3MD9hY2Nlc3NfY29kZT1kZDQ2ZmYzNDE3Nzc1NDMzNWJhMWNkNmM1MWM5ZjQyY2Y0Y2E1OTQ4. General admission is $13 and reserved seating is $18. Children aged five and under are free. PBC students will be admitted free with a valid identification from that school. Peach Belt Sports Passes with photo ID will be accepted. All tournament games will be streamed on a pay-per-view basis.

Flagler finished the regular season with a 17-11 overall record and it posted an 11-9 mark in conference play. The Saints closed the regular season winning their two games. USC Aiken posted a 19-9 overall record with a 13-7 mark in league play. The Sand Sharks are 8-4 at home this season, but they have lost the last three of four.

USC Beaufort won both games between the two teams this season. They edged Flagler 83-82 in overtime in Bluffton on Jan. 7 and then won 83-80 at St. Augustine on Feb. 18. Tariq Daughton led the Saints in scoring in those two games with a 17.0 points per game average. Rahdir Hicks averaged 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds game, and made 68.8 percent of his shots from the field. Melvin Teal averaged 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Evan Kilminster led five Sand Sharks in double figures with 14.5 points per game and he added 9.5 rebounds per contest. Qurahn Anderson supplied 14.0 ppg and made 61.9 percent of his field goal attempts.

In the first game, Kilminster hit a fall away jumper from the right corner with one second left in overtime to win the game for USCB. Anderson scored a game high 20 points for the Sand Sharks. Daughton led the Saints with 18 points.

In the game at Bluffton, Kilminster sank a pair of free throws and a last second shot by the Saints failed to hit the mark. Nolan Paladugu led the Sand Sharks with 15 points. Daughton scored a game high 16 points for Flagler and Hicks tacked on 15 more.  

Hicks leads a balanced scoring attack with 11.9 points per game. Daughton and Camden Andrews are averaging 9.1 ppg. Daughton leads the team with 41 made three-pointers. Tymoteusz Pszczola has scored 8.7 points and grabbed 4.9 rebounds per game. He has blocked a team-high 14 shots.

Kilminster leads the Sand Sharks with 13.5 points, 55 three-pointers made, and 4.2 assists per game. Anderson follows at 12.9 ppg and Dominic Eason is next at 12.0 ppg.

This will be Flagler's seventh appearance in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Saints won the tournament in 2021, the same year the team advanced to the NCAA Division II final four. Flagler is 6-5 all-time in the tournament. Flagler leads the all-time series 4-2. Flagler's last win at USC Beaufort was Jan. 25, 2025 (84-83).    

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