The Falcons finished the 2021-2022 season with a 31-4 record. They won the Continental Athletic Conference Championship and earned a win in the NAIA National Tournament.
Head coach Chase Teichmann signed a number of talented players following his first season as head coach. He also returned several productive players from the above .500 team the year before.
The Falcons' first conference game came early in the season with a visit from Bacone College. The Falcons blew Bacone out of the water in only their second game of the year 125-61. They had six players in double digits with three of them coming off the bench.
After a 6-0 start, their first loss of the season came seven games in against a talented University of Tennessee Southern team, 82-77.
After a 6-1 start that included an 11-point road win at Freed-Hardeman, Florida College received votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history on November 17.
The Falcons then went on an eight-game winning streak, including road wins over Middle Georgia State University, Webber International University, and Truett-McConnell University.
Okonkwo celebrated 1,000 career points while at Truett McConnell University, where the Falcons won 61-50. Simpson also celebrated a career-high of 44 points in a win against Trinity Christian College, passing his previous high of 37 points. The Falcons recorded a season-best of 3 turnovers and demolished the Trolls 94-75.
The Falcons' second loss of the season came from Olivet Nazarene University (RV) in December. The Falcons fell to the Tigers by a slim four points, even after losing starting point guard, Phat Cleveland to injury just minutes into the game.
On January 11, Matt Simpson broke the decade-long All-Time Scoring record at Florida College, previously held by Adam Thompson ('07) against Warner University. The previous record was set at 1,922 points. He later celebrated reaching the 2,000 career point milestone at the CAC Classic hosted by Florida College against conference foe Wilberforce University.
The Falcons traveled to Boston in early January, where freshman Anthony Bittar recorded the first triple-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 15 assists. He was one assist short of the school record of assists in a game.
A few days later, the Falcons beat the defending conference champions, Voorhees College, 79-71.
Bittar added another double-double to his resume against Ave Maria University, where he tallied a career-high of 28 points along with 10 rebounds. He had support from Okonkwo who had 20 points and 15 rebounds.
The Falcons went on a nine-game winning streak before the conference tournament. They finished the regular season 27-3.
While in Iowa, the Falcons knocked off Lincoln Christian University 105-55 and tournament host Iowa Wesleyan 82-66. Junior Ray Cao recorded a season-high of 14 points against Lincoln Christian. In the semifinals, freshman Drew Kramer gave the team the push they needed in the second half of the Iowa Wesleyan game with back-to-back three-pointers, to extend the lead despite only being up by four a few minutes earlier. The Falcons took down Washington Adventist University in the championship game 102-82 and were named the 2021-22 CAC Champions. The Falcons punched their ticket to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history.
FC would receive a 9-seed during the selection show. They were sent to New Orleans, La. to take on the 8th seed, Evangel University.
In the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament, the Falcons played a tight game with Evangel. This game had spectators on the edge of their seats in the second half when the Valor were able to cut down the Falcon's from 14 points to just one with under eight minutes remaining. The game came down to the wire and was tied with eight seconds left in the game until Phat Cleveland nailed a three-point shot with three seconds remaining, followed by an Anthony Bittar steal on the inbound pass, to secure the win for the Falcons 75-72. Cleveland led the Falcons with 22 points and seven assists followed by Simpson with 14 points and eight rebounds. The win marked the first win for any Florida College team in the NAIA National Tournament. They advanced to the Round of 32.
The next day, the Falcons fell to the No. 1 overall seed, Loyola University New Orleans, 106-75. Loyola later went on to win the NAIA National Championship.
This season was proven to be one for the books for the Falcons with an undefeated 14-0 home record and undefeated 12-0 conference record. Florida College was ranked 26th overall in the final NAIA Top 25 Ranking, just one vote behind the 25th spot.
The Falcons played 8 teams during the season that made the National Tournament, with only one of those games being at home. They went 4-4 in those games, with one of the losses coming to the National Champion.
The Falcons earned a number of awards and honors across the NAIA and CAC.
Matt Simpson was named CAC Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Conference, two-time Player of the Week, and the CAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, along with being a member of the All-Tournament Team. He is also the first NAIA 1st Team All-American in school history. Simpson was ranked 2nd in points scored in the country.
Chinedu Okonkwo also made quite a splash in his first and final year at Florida College. He was named the CAC's Co-Newcomer of the Year, Player of the Week, 1st Team All-Conference, and made the All-Tournament team. He was also named an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention. He was ranked first in the CAC in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and total rebounds. He was also ranked 2nd in total points, and 3rd in rebounds per game.
DJ Doakes was named to the All-Tournament team and received the Champions of Character award. He was ranked 5th in the CAC in three-point percentage.
Phat Cleveland was named to the All-Tournament team and made 2nd team All-Conference. He was ranked 1st in the CAC in assists and 3rd in steals. He was also ranked 5th in the NAIA in assists.
In just his second season as a head coach, Chase Teichmann was named CAC Coach of the Year, after taking the program to new heights.
Seniors DJ Doakes and Chinedu Okonkwo were honored for their time at Florida College. Doakes tallied 716 career points and 282 career rebounds. Okonkwo finished with 1,233 career points and 875 career rebounds.
Nationally, the Falcons finished 1st in three-pointers made, 2nd in three's made per game, 3rd in points per game, 6th in three-point percentage, 6th in overall field goal percentage, 3rd in assists per game, and 16th in opponent's field goal percentage.
They broke countless school records: 375 made three's in a season, 31 wins in a season, and a .886 win percentage. They won the first conference championship in thirty years for men's basketball.
"This was the most rewarding basketball season I've ever been a part of. I love every single member of our basketball program and I loved spending time with this group. I got so much joy watching our guys play every night. They play the right way, are coachable, and are a true family," said Teichmann. "We achieved the goals we set for ourselves before the season. Winning the conference championship was an unbelievable feeling. Qualifying and then winning a game in the national tournament was surreal, especially in the fashion we did it. I'll never forget any of it. I'm extremely proud of our program this past season and I'm grateful and blessed to have been a part of it."
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