Coming off of a record-setting season, Daytona State men’s basketball has struck red hot iron to kick off the 2023-2024 campaign.
With an astounding 17-0 record, the Falcons have showed up night in and night out and brought consistency to every game they’ve played. Most notable amongst their wins was on Tuesday, November 28th when they took down the #1 ranked JUCO team, The Northwest Florida State College Raiders, by a final score of 85-79.
This is just the second time in program history that the Falcons have gotten out to a 10-0 start, most recently was last year when they had won their first 12 matchups of the season. 3rd year head coach Joey Cantens has created a remarkable impact on the team during his tenure as a coach, with a prolific 48-23 lifetime record as bench boss of the Falcons.
Currently ranked 2nd after a previous ranking of 4th in the D1 JUCO rankings, Daytona State has been pummeling their opponents. Averaging 104.6 points per game, and an average win margin of 25.3 points, they look to continue their winning ways, rounding out the calendar year with 3 of 4 games at home.
An all-around deep team with lots of consistency makes Coach Cantens’ job that much easier. The Falcons currently have 6 players who average over 10 points per game, led by sophomores Josue Grullon and Breylin Garcia. Averaging 20.5 and 13.5 PPG respectively, these two stars provide just a glimpse of what a loaded Daytona State team has to offer.
Sophomore guard Kylin Green is tied for second on the team for average points, but also leads the team in APG with 6.4. Judd Coan, a towering 6’8” sophomore who only averages 17.4 minutes per night, still brings a lot to the table with 8.3 PPG and 3.5 rebounds per game.
However it’s not just the stars who make an impact, but the role/bench players as well. Freshman guard Dylan Diaz who only averages 16.9 minutes per night had his best outing of the season when he came in off the bench in a game against USC Salkehatchie in which he scored 28 points and notched 6 rebounds and 2 assists for an all-around complete performance.
The Falcons hadn’t lost a contest until December 17th of last year’s season, a benchmark they are just 3 games away from surpassing this season. After a monumental 27-4 finish last year, and an eventual loss to Eastern Florida State College in the Division I FCSAA/NJCAA South Atlantic District Men’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Daytona State is geared up and poised to make another run at the title, starting off strong in doing so.