Ocala, Fla.-- Needing a spark, the College of Central Florida men's basketball turned to its defense.

The Patriots held State College of Florida without a basket for a span over eight minutes overlapping the two halves and went on a 27-4 run on their way to an 87-68 win on Tuesday night.

CF (2-0), the nation's top-ranked team, scored the final seven points of the first half after SCOF tied things up at 29.

From there, the Patriots pulled away, as they held the Manatees (0-2) without a point for span of nearly five minutes overlapping the two halves.

For the game, CF held SCOF to 32.9 percent shooting and just 20.7 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-29 overall).

"The defense won the game for us," CF coach Tim Ryan said. "Our goal was to be there on the catch when they went to shoot the three.

"Our guys did a good job and this was a good win against a solid team."

Javonte Douglas led the Patriots with 23 points, while Rodell Wigginton added 20.

Douglas, whose dunk against Pasco-Hernando was featured on ESPN's Pardon the Interuption on Tuesday and has been picked up by virtually every major sports internet website, added six rebounds and made 9-of-16 shots.

"It's been crazy and I never thought something like that would happen to me," said Douglas, an honorable mention All-American selection last season at Hill (Tex.) College. "I've gotten about a thousand messages and I've heard from people that I haven't talked to in years.

"Twitter, Facebook, Instagram ... the dunk's been everywhere."

Douglas was pleased with his team's effort on Tuesday.

"I felt our press was all right and we were able to get into our zone and we played well on defense in the second half," he said.

Wigginton, who scored 32 points in the win over PHCC on Saturday, added seven rebounds and led CF with five steals.

In all, the Patriots forced 17 turnovers and outrebounded the Manatees 58-45.

CF enjoyed a 22-12 edge in second-chance points and survived a 2-of-14 effort from 3-point range.

One of those two shots from long range, though, got the Patriots going.

Rasham Suarez knocked down his team's first 3-pointer of the game after seven straight misses at the 2:41 mark, which started a 7-0 run to close the first half.

Suarez, a Southern Mississippi commit, finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Chris Bryant added nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds for CF.

The Patriots led by as many as 25 points in the second half and held a 10-point edge in the first half, before the Manatees used a pair of 8-2 runs to get back into things, before CF's defense clamped down.

Obina Oleka led SCOF with 33 points and 10 rebounds.

Oleka, a Texas commit, finished 13-of-26 from the field and backed up a 27-point, 12-rebound effort against the Patriots in last year's state tournament.

CF has now won four straight game over the past two seasons against the Manatees.

The Patriots rallied from 23 points down last year to defeat SCOF 105-103 at home and gave coach Tim Ryan his 200th career victory.

This time, CF was able to breathe much easier as its defense didn't let SCOF sustain much.

CF will return to action this Friday night in a tournament at USC-Salkahatchie in South Carolina.