Florida Tech Tops Iowa Wesleyan
By Florida Tech // December 20, 2012
Next Opponent Barry On Jan. 2
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Chris Carter scored a season-high 34 points and Florida Tech closed out the 2012 portion of its schedule with a 97-78 victory over Iowa Wesleyan Wednesday night at the Clemente Center.
The Panthers improve to 5-3 on the season, while the Tigers drop to 7-11.
Carter entered the game having scored in double figures in his first seven games of his FIT career.
He solidified his eighth game in double figures by connecting on 11-of-18 from the field, 6-of-12 from the arc and 6-of-8 from the free throw line and also finished with five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes.
“I thought we came out and executed pretty well,” Carter said. “We played good defense and closed out on the shooters. Before the game, I took a lot of form shots and my shot was falling tonight. Once I hit the first one, the rim seemed to get wider.”
Julius Reid, NCAA Division II’s leader in steals per game, had five steals and all came in the first half. He also chipped in seven points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals without committing a turnover.
“Julius Reid and Chris Carter are our co-captains and the leaders of this team,” head coach Billy Mims said. “If they play well, we play well. We’re coming off a two-game losing streak to two really good teams in Las Vegas. We felt like we could have won both games, but we didn’t get it done.
“We didn’t want to come home and extend that losing streak into Christmas. The guys that led us were our co-captains,” Mims said. “Julius kick-started the game with his defensive effort and had eight rebounds and five steals. Chris shot the ball beautifully. He wanted the basketball and made great decisions.”
Jermaine Jackson scored 16 and Randy Echols had 10, which is a new career-high, for the Panthers.
The Panthers connected on 53 percent (35-of-66) of their shots and nearly 43 percent (12-of-28) of their attempts from long distance.
They dominated the paint, outscoring Iowa Wesleyan 44-28, 24-3 in second chance points and out-rebounded the Tigers 38-23.
Sunshine State Conference play now awaits FIT. It begins on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. against Barry in Miami Shores.
