Florida Tech Beats University of Tampa, 71-66

By  //  January 12, 2014

panthers improve to 12-3

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — The Panthers pounded the glass and finished with 52 rebounds and held the Spartans to 33 percent from the field as Florida Tech (12-3, 2-2 SSC) earned its first Sunshine State Conference victory of the 2014 season with a 71-66 win over the University of Tampa (9-4, 2-2 SSC) on Saturday afternoon at the Clemente Center.

Corbin Jackson finished with his 11th double-double of the season. (Florida Tech image)
Corbin Jackson finished with his 11th double-double of the season. (Florida Tech image)

Chris Carter sealed the victory with his seventh 20 or more point performance of the season as the Port St. Lucie native finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals and went 15-of-16 from the free throw line. Overall, the Panthers were 24-of-32 from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Spartans, 52 to 34. FIT is now 10-1 when recording 40 or more rebounds in a game and when Corbin Jackson, who finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, registers a double-double. Jackson now has 11 double-doubles on the season, the most in the SSC and third most in NCAA Division II.

Chris Carter
Chris Carter

FIT is 11-1 when leading at halftime and 12-1 when holding opponents to a field-goal percentage below 50 percent for the game. Cameron Stahl added five points, six rebounds and one block and Jermaine Jackson was a rebound shy of his first double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

“The two things that we stressed all week was defense and rebounding and we did both this afternoon,” said head coach Billy Mims.

“We held Tampa to 33 percent shooting and we also went 75 percent from the free throw line.”

PANTHERS IMPROVE TO 12-3

“The two things that we stressed all week was defense and rebounding and we did both this afternoon, we held Tampa to 33 percent shooting and we also went 75 percent from the free throw line.” — Billy Mims.

Carter finished the first half with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal and Corbin Jackson added 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal as the Panthers entered halftime carrying a 31-27 lead. Trailing by six early in the game, FIT tied the game behind four consecutive points by Carter and a jumper by Isaac Spence. From 7:03 to 2:34, the Panthers held the Spartans scoreless and went on a 12-0 run to take a 29-20 lead. In the half, FIT outscored UT in the paint, 20-10.

CORBINJACKSON-180
Corbin Jackson

Florida Tech capitalized on offensive miscues by Tampa and scored 11 points off of turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half, taking a 50-40 lead with just under nine minutes remaining and finished with 19 points off of turnovers to survive a late rally by the Spartans and earn their second conference win of the season.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when they head to Lakeland, Fla. to take on No. 4 and defending conference champion, Florida Southern College at 7:30 p.m.