Panthers Roll Past Palm Beach Atlantic
By Florida Tech // January 6, 2013
200th NCAA Win For Billy Mims
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – Florida Tech (6-4) earned its first win of 2013 Saturday evening, defeating Palm Beach Atlantic (1-10) 94-61 at Rubin Arena. The victory is head coach Billy Mims’ 200th at the NCAA level.
In his 15th season as an NCAA head coach, he has won 112 games in eight seasons at FIT. Previously, he won nine games at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and 79 at Barry.
Four Panthers scored in double figures with Jermaine Jackson’s career-high 32 points leading the way. He also corralled 10 rebounds – eight were offensive – for his third double-double of the season and his career. Chris Carter scored 21 points and now has scored in double figures in each of his first 10 games of his FIT career. He pulled down nine rebounds and just missed his third double-double.
Julius Reid recorded his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 15 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and one block. His 11 rebounds were a season-high and he tied a career-high in the department for the fourth time in his four-year career. Newcomer Terrance Tubbs contributed 12 points and eight rebounds in his second game as a Panther.
“The big three really came to play, but [Terrance] Tubbs came off the bench and played really well for today being his second outing,” Mims said. “I thought we grew up a little bit. We had a tough mid-week loss at Barry. Every one of our players thought we should have won that game. With a young basketball team, you’re not sure how you’re going to respond. We worked really hard, we came back and stayed positive. Everyone came in and thought we were going to win this game.
“We played 40 minutes of man-to-man defense. What I’m most proud of is we held Barry to 38 percent shooting in 45 minutes on Wednesday. We then held Palm Beach Atlantic to 31 percent shooting in 40 minutes. This week has been about team defense. We’ve played great defense all week and I’m really proud of our defensive focus and the fact we’ve been able to sustain the effort throughout the game.”
The Panthers led 46-36 at the half behind Jackson’s 15 first-half points. Over the final 20 minutes, they were able to build up their lead to a game-high 34 following a lay-up by Reid with 5:26 on the clock.
FIT dominated Palm Beach Atlantic on the glass, 62-36. It also ruled the paint to the tune of 61-26, won points off turnovers 13-8, second chance points 28-14 and fast break points 17-8.
Rollins will travel to Melbourne on Wednesday for the Panthers’ Sunshine State Conference home opener. Tip-off is scheduled following the women’s game at about 7:30 p.m
