In a game that would go a long way to determine the standings for the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Tournament, the No. 24 Rollins College Tars took down the Florida Tech Panthers 61-56 at the Warden Arena on Wednesday. (Image by Amanda Stratford)
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In a game that would go a long way to determine the standings for the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Tournament, the No. 24 Rollins College Tars took down the Florida Tech Panthers 61-56 at the Warden Arena on Wednesday.
This win gives the Tars the season sweep against the Panthers. Rollins won the first matchup against then No. 9 Florida Tech 72-65 on Jan. 21 in Melbourne.
Baskets came at a premium in this second game. The Panthers shot just 24.1 percent for the game and the Tars were just a bit better at 27.9 percent.
FIT’s recent woes from behind-the-arc continued as it made just 4-of-29 from three-point range.
It was a low scoring first half as the Panthers made just 6-of-40 from the field and the Tars made only 6-of-38 shots.
John Reynolds
“We can’t shoot the ball that poorly and win a game in this conference,” said head coach John Reynolds. “When you play conference games, especially this late in the season, every possession matters.”
The score was tied 17-17 late in the first half, until Jasmire Brown made a baseline jumper with 37 seconds remaining to put her team ahead 19-17 going into halftime.
Kayk Wilson recorded five points, four rebounds and two steals at halftime. She finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two assists. Brown added five points and Tiesha Flagler had four points in the first half.
Sarah Taylor paced the Tars with six points at halftime.
The teams went back and forth with the lead to start the second half. FIT went up 25-21 with 4:55 into the half off a jumper by Shequana Harris.
The last time the Panthers led in the game was at 36-35 off a layup by Wilson with 10:10 remaining. Rollins quickly took the lead back 13 seconds later and never gave it up the rest of the game.
With 1:07 remaining, the Tars went up 56-48 and it looked like the game was over. Yet, with 26 seconds left, Harris hit a jumper to bring the score to 58-56. Florida Tech had several attempts to tie the game but it was unsuccessful.
“We had opportunities at the end of the game, “said Reynolds.
“We made those opportunities happen. We made big shots and we fouled the right people, and got ourselves back in the game. Unfortunately we just ran out of time tonight.”
Florida Tech takes on Lynn University in the Panthers’ regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 28 in Boca Raton, Florida.
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In the previous matchup between the teams this season, FIT ran away with a 67-49 victory.
