Florida
Jaemyn Brakefield scores 28 points as Ole Miss basketball discovers its swagger again vs Florida
Chris Beard on Ole Miss basketball season so far
Here’s what Chris Beard had to say about how the Rebels have managed their nonconference slate.
OXFORD — Ole Miss basketball did not shy away from the required response when it hosted Florida Wednesday at the SJB Pavilion.
Staring down a possible 0-2 SEC start and a whole lot of questions on the back of last Saturday’s bludgeoning from Tennessee, the Rebels (14-1, 1-1 SEC) were not tight and tentative against Florida (10-5, 0-2). Instead, in beating the Gators 103-85, Ole Miss brought a swagger and punch-first attitude.
The Rebels seamlessly adapted to the Gators’ preferred pace, running the floor aggressively against one of college basketball’s tempo leaders. They mitigated what looked like a huge interior mismatch on paper. And they didn’t allow their first loss of the season to impact their confidence, taking audacious fadeaway jump shots, swatting shots and letting Gators defenders know they were “too small” when making plays inside.
Jaemyn Brakefield goes off again for Ole Miss basketball
The main instigator for the Rebels offensively remained forward Jaemyn Brakefield.
The Jackson native carried over a strong performance against Tennessee, posting a career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
He tormented the Gators inside and out, connecting on two 3-pointers and a handful of outside jump shots while also showcasing his ability to score in the paint. Brakefield finished off a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays.
FULL UPDATES: Ole Miss basketball live score updates vs. Florida: Rebels face Gators in SEC play
Rebels hang with Florida in the paint, dominate from deep
Brakefield’s efforts contributed to a remarkable interior effort by the Rebels, who often cede control of the painted area even in victories.
Florida, the sixth-most-efficient offensive rebounding team in college basketball entering action Wednesday, outdid the Rebels 26-10 on the offensive glass.
But that didn’t translate into a considerable advantage when it came to points in the paint. The Rebels drew Florida 42 to 42 in that category. Ole Miss’ rim protectors imposed themselves on the game, too. Jamarion Sharp swatted a school-record nine shots as the Rebels finished with 16 total blocks.
Those numbers gave Ole Miss a chance to win. Its outside shooting removed any doubt.
The Rebels connected on eight of their 20 attempts from downtown, continuing their season-long trend of efficient 3-point shooting.
Matthew Murrell and Allen Flanigan bounce back
As usual, guard Matthew Murrell helped key Ole Miss’ efforts from deep.
He drilled three 3-pointers on his way to a 23-point performance. The Rebels needed improvement from Murrell, who turned in by far his worst performance of the season against Tennessee, hitting just four of his 12 field-goal attempts on his way to nine points.
Allen Flanigan, who was also out of sorts against the Vols, responded to shoot 6-of-11 from the field for 17 points.
Up next
Ole Miss will remain at home, with Vanderbilt scheduled to visit the SJB Pavilion on Saturday (Noon, SEC Network). The Commodores (5-10, 0-2) lost at LSU on Tuesday.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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Florida
Florida to execute man convicted in 1989 home invasion killing – WTOP News
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of stabbing a woman to death during home invasion robbery more than 30…
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of stabbing a woman to death during home invasion robbery more than 30 years ago is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.
Mark Allen Geralds, 58, is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Geralds was convicted of murder, armed robbery, burglary and stealing a car and was sentenced to death in 1990. The Florida Supreme Court later vacated the sentence but affirmed the conviction, and Geralds was resentenced to death in 1992.
It would be Florida’s 18th death sentence carried out in 2025, further extending the state record for total executions in a single year.
According to court records, Tressa Pettibone’s 8-year-old son found his mother beaten and stabbed to death on the kitchen floor of their Panama City home in February 1989. Geralds was a carpenter who had previously done remodeling work at the home.
Geralds ran into Pettibone and her children at a shopping mall about a week before the killing, and Pettibone mentioned that her husband was away on business. Geralds later approached Pettibone’s son at the video arcade and asked when the boy’s father would return and what time he and his sister left for and returned from school each day, according to court records.
Investigators found that Geralds pawned jewelry with traces of Pettibone’s blood on it, and plastic ties used to bind Pettibone matched ties found in Geralds’ car.
After a death warrant was signed last month and his execution date set, Geralds told a judge he did not wish to pursue any further appeals. The judge signed off on that decision.
A total of 44 men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and a handful of executions are scheduled for the rest of the year.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year. Another execution is planned for next week in the state under death warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Frank Athen Walls, 58, is scheduled for Florida’s 19th execution this year on Dec. 18. He was convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during a home invasion robbery and later confessing to three other killings.
Florida’s lethal injections are carried out with a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
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© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Florida
Florida wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, RBs coach Jabbar Juluke not being retained
Sources tell On3 that Florida interim head coach and wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales is not being retained on Jon Sumrall’s staff. He’s had three stints at Florida as a wide receivers coach, coming under Urban Meyer, Dan Mullen and Billy Napier.
He’s developed three first-round picks in Ricky Pearsall, Kadarius Toney and Percy Harvin. Gonzales landed top wide receiver talent out of the high school ranks, most recently five-star Vernell Brown and four-star Dallas Wilson. Both were top-50 recruits in the 2025 recruiting cycle.
Florida running backs coach Jabbar Juluke is not being retained, sources tell On3. He had been with Napier previously at Louisiana.
Gonzales stepped in as interim coach in October, when Florida fired Billy Napier after four seasons. Gonzales went 1-4 as Florida’s interim coach this season, picking up his lone win over Florida State in the regular season finale.
“A goal of mine would be, obviously, [to] be able to stay here,” Gonzales said in his introductory press conference as interim head coach. “My first goal is to make sure we put a fantastic group of players on that football field that are going to compete and play for the University of Florida.”
Sumrall is a 43-year-old Alabama native who won two conference titles at Troy and made the American Conference title game in 2024 in Year 1 at Tulane. He won a conference title over the weekend and has the Green Wave playing in the College Football Playoff. Sumrall is 11-2 on the season and 43–11 in four years as an FBS head coach.
Florida
Retired NYC restaurant owner charged with DUI in Florida golf cart crash that killed his wife
A retiree who once owned a quaint Queens diner was charged with a DUI after his wife was killed in a golf cart crash at their dream retirement spot in Florida late last month — while he was behind the wheel.
Angelo Theodosiou, 64, and his wife Christina Theodosiou, 58, were cruising through Nocatee, an unincorporated coastal community in Florida, on Nov. 30, when tragedy struck.
Christina Theodosiou fell from the golf cart and smacked her head against the pavement around 10:45 p.m. that night. She was transported to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to her injuries the following day, according to an arrest report obtained by Law & Crime.
Investigators observed that Angelo Theodosiou’s “eyes were bloodshot and watery and pupils displayed a reddened sclera.” Responding officers could also smell “an odor of alcoholic beverage” on him “from approximately three feet away in an open area,” according to the report.
At the scene, a distraught Angelo Theodosiou refused to complete a standard field sobriety test. He also failed to submit to a breathalyzer test, according to the report.
Officials noted in the report that he was “repeatedly asked what was happening and why he was arrested” the following day.
Angelo Theodosiou’s lawyer, L. Lee Lockett, said that the widower is “heartbroken” and maintains his innocence that he wasn’t impaired the night of the accident.
“He’s distraught. He’s depressed as can be,” Lockett told the St. John’s Citizen.
Angelo Theodosiou was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to police testing. He made bond and was released from jail the day after his arrest, according to Law and Crime.
Residents in the cozy retirement hotspot told the outlet that they figured a recently opened greenway path would be bound to cause an accident sooner or later, since it’s created more congestion. Some said they’d seen some recent near-miss collisions between golf carts and e-bikes.
Angelo Theodosiou previously owned the Jackson House Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a 2018 article written by students at the School of the New York Times.
He and his brother ran the restaurant, which retained its original name after they purchased the property in the 1990s. Under their leadership, Angelo Theodosiou told the students that they aimed to treat every customer like “family.”
“It might sound corny, but it’s really true,” he said.
It’s unclear when he retired and made the move to the Sunshine State.
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