Panthers Top Century Mark In Victory Over DeVry

By  //  December 9, 2012

Six FIT Players Score In Double Figures

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech (4-1) received contributions from all 13 of its players that saw action in its 104-30 win over DeVry University’s Miramar Campus (0-12) Saturday at the Clemente Center.

Florida Tech freshman Nick Stahl from Satellite Beach scored the first 13 points of his college career as the Panthers crushed DeVry Miramar on Saturday in Melbourne. (Image courtesy Florida Tech)

The Panthers’ margin of victory broke a 37-year-old record by just one point. During the 1975-76 season, FIT poured in a program-record 163 points in a 163-90 win against Clearwater Christian.

On Saturday, six players scored in double figures for the Crimson and Gray. Leading the team was Julius Reid and David Usic, who both scored 15 points. Chris Carter contributed 14 points. Freshman Nick Stahl totaled his first 13 points of his Panthers career on 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from the arc.

Junior Kevin Bolhuis had a career-day, scoring 12 points with seven rebounds and a game-high seven assists in 21 minutes. Derick Pope, a freshman from Grayson, Ga., had a season-high 10 points. In his first regular-season game of the season, Cameron Stahl corralled a game-high 11 rebounds. Kenny Davison pulled down seven rebounds, which is a career-high for the sophomore, in his first career start.

“Whenever you see a score like today, the first thought is ‘wow, you really played well,’” head coach Billy Mims said. “I thought we did play well. We executed very well and also displayed some depth that we’ve been looking for. It was a great opportunity for our entire roster to play today. Everyone received very valuable minutes of court time. Every player played hard, played smart and contributed something in some way.”

After the game, Mims was complimentary of all his players, including Bolhuis, Pope, the Stahl brothers and Usic.

“Kevin Bolhuis did a very nice job,” he said. “He’s a junior and he’s in his third year in our program. We’ve always been looking for Kevin to be a very good back-up point guard. He came out and ran our offense well. He was your typical floor general. He did a good job of executing our offenses and made plays for himself when the opportunity was there. I was pleased with his performance.

“We know Derick Pope is a talented athlete. There was one play in particular where he beat his man baseline and rose up and showed his athleticism with a big dunk to finish the drive. Those are the kinds of things that we’ve been asking him to do and felt like he could do. He’s an exciting and explosive player and we saw some of that today. He’s a freshman that showed what he can bring in the future.

“Nick Stahl is another freshman, who has a bright future in front of him. He’s probably one of our team’s best shooters, if not the best shooter. He has incredible range on his shot, gets it off quickly and he’s a smart basketball player. He’s the younger brother of Cameron and it was great to see him back in the lineup today. We had a double-double from the Stahl’s today, not an individual double-double, but Nick had 13 points and Cameron had 11 rebounds off the bench. Besides last Saturday’s exhibition game at UCF, Cameron has been out with an injury. It was good to see him on the court and get some quality minutes.

“David Usic had an outstanding first half. He’s another freshman. He led us with 13 points at the half. He did a really good job of going to the offensive boards. When we missed shots, David was there to create second-chance shots for us. He’s another one that has a bright future.”

The Panthers will conclude the fall academic semester by taking their final exams next week. On Friday, they will depart for the Las Vegas Desert Classic, which runs from Dec. 15 and 16. On day one, they will take on Cameron University from Lawton, Okla. at 5:30 p.m. EST. They will then square off against Abilene Christian out of Abilene, Texas on day two, also at 5:30 p.m. EST.