No. 19 Florida took on the Toledo Rockets tonight and came out on top with the win. This was an excellent start of the regular season for the Gators and what a way to shift momentum towards their side. What really impressed several people tonight was the Gators defense. What a difference between this years defense than last years. Florida forced a total of four 10 second violations tonight against Toledo. Junior Dan Werner has took a tremendous step comparing to last season. Werner led Florida tonight with 19 points and grabbed 5 boards, along with a block. Sophomore guard Nick Calathes added 16 points and 7 assists which he is known best for….his passing. Other key scorers tonight were sophomores Alex Tyus with 11, Chandler Parsons with 8, and Senior Walter Hodge put 10 in the books.

What is really interested about Florida is how young their team is. The Gators will have one player graduating this year and that is Walter Hodge. We all hate to see him go but the years he put in for Florida really were great. Besides our one senior, we have 6 Freshman, 5 sophomores, and one Junior. Can’t you picture a bright season(s) the next couple years including this year? I say so. As long as Florida maintains to stay healthy and hope to get Adam Allen back from the injured list due to a knee injury and continue to play defense like they have been, then they should do pretty good in the Big Dance. A true Freshman to look out for is Erving Walker. Walker came out of Brooklyn, New York. This kid can flat out play and you should expect big things come out of him. He is very unselfish with the ball and that is what makes Florida a good basketball team. Florida will take on Bradley at the O’connell center on November 16th. Tip off is at 2:00pm. Stats from tonights game may be seen below. Feel free to leave us comments on the blog.

Dan Werner- 19 PTS, 5 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL, 1 AST.
Nick Calathes- 16 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL, 7 AST.
Alex Tyus- 11 PTS, 2 REB, 1 BLK, 1 AST.
Walter Hodge- 10 PTS, 2 REB, 3 STL, 2 AST.
Chandler Parsons- 8 PTS, 4 REB, 2 STL, 1 AST.
Ray Shipman- 7 PTS, 4 REB, 2 STL.
Allan Chaney- 6 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST.
Erving Walker- 2 PTS, 2 REB, 1 STL, 7 AST.
Kenny Kadji- 1 PT, 1 REB, 2 BLK, 1 AST.

3- ray shipman and chandler parsons- 25