Florida Tech Panthers (18-10, 11-9 SSC)
Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (14-12, 10-10 SSC)
History:
Florida Tech is 25-18 all-time against Palm Beach Atlantic.
2/11/2023: Florida Tech 77 PBA 80
PBA Stuns Panthers at the Buzzer
FIRST HALF:
Sesan Russell drilled a 3-pointer to give the Panthers an 8-5 advantage early on.
Halfway through the opening period, a layup from Sam Grant tied the game at 20.
Jalen Cooper for PBA made his presence known inside and gave it a 29-25 lead with a bucket in the paint.
A 3-pointer from Ryan Claflin for PBA gave it a 39-31 lead with 3:24 remaining in the half.
The Panthers ended the half strongly, using a 10-1 run to take a 41-40 lead into the break.
SECOND HALF:
A 6-0 run for PBA once the game restarted gave it the lead back.
A bucket for Sam Grant and a 3-pointer from Sean Houpt saw Tech take a 57-52 lead.
A corner triple from Darragh O'Sullivan kept Tech's five point advantage with 9:01 remaining in the game.
O'Sullivan hit another triple to push the Panthers lead to 69-59.
A 15-6 scoring run for PBA saw it come within one point of Tech's lead.
A 3-pointer from Cooper gave the Sailfish a 77-75 lead.
Niall Harris drilled two free throws to tie the game at 77 with six seconds left
Will Lee for PBA hit a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team the win.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
Grant scored a career-high 24 points off the bench on 10-of-14 shooting.
Houpt was also in double figures with 15 points.
Russell had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists that tied his career high.
After missing four games with an injury, Russell returned to the lineup with 12 points and six assists.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Florida Tech shot 46.7% (28-60) from the field and 30.8% (8-26) from the 3-point line. PBA was 56.3% (27-48) shooting and 69.2% (9-13) from behind the arc.
At the free throw line, the Panthers shot 86.7% (13-15) while the Sailfish 85% (17-20).
PBA outrebounded Tech 31-21.
Florida Tech had 11 turnovers and forced 19 turnovers by PBA.
The Panthers had 19 assists while the Sailfish had 11.
Last Time Out:
Florida Tech took down Tampa 94-76
Panthers Finish Regular Season With Win Over Tampa
FIRST HALF:
Florida Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead with the help of inside buckets from Niall Harris, and Mekhii Noble then a triple from Sean Houpt.
Harris knocked down a 3-pointer to give Tech a 10-3 advantage.
A 24-0 scoring run for the Panthers that lasted over five minutes pushed the lead to 34-6.
A 3-pointer from Harris and a layup from George Nehma extended the Panthers lead to 46-17 with 4:55 remaining.
The lead reached 30 points on a triple from Can Kaan Turgut.
Stephen Merritt capped off the first half for Tech with a 3-pointer that gave Tech a 56-26 lead at the break.
SECOND HALF
Sesan Russell knocked down two jumpers and Harris drilled a layup to push the Panthers lead to 62-26 right after halftime.
Noble threw down a dunk to push the winning margin to 27 points with 14:35 remaining.
Another inside bucket from Noble gave the Panthers an 81-47 lead.
A 12-2 run for the Spartans cut the Panthers lead to 87-62.
Theo Klimanoglou hit a jumper and Nehma hit a triple in the final two minutes to cap off a 94-76 victory for the Panthers.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
Noble score a team-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and also secured seven rebounds.
Harris recorded a double-double for the second consecutive game with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Russell scored 17 points with seven rebounds and six asissts.
The last Florida Tech player in double-figures was Houpt with 12 points and seven rebounds.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
The Panthers move to 31-58 all-time against Tampa.
Florida Tech shot 52.1% (38-73) from the field and 44.4% (12-27) from the 3-point line. Tampa was 43.5% (30-69) shooting and 8-30 (26.7%) from behind the arc.
At the free throw line, the Panthers were 50% (6-12) while the Spartans were 62% (8-13).
On the glass, Florida Tech dominated with 52 rebounds to Tampa's 26.
The Panthers had 20 second chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
Points in the paint were in favor of Tech 44-32.