Tampa Edges Florida Tech In Men’s Basketball
By Florida Tech // January 31, 2013
Panthers Host Barry On Saturday
TAMPA, FLORIDA – Terrance Tubbs scored a career-high 33 points for Florida Tech, but Tampa forced an offensive foul late in the game and hung on for a 77-74 win at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on Wednesday.
Tampa (14-6, 2-6 SSC) trailed by six at halftime. Less than five minutes into the new period, the Spartans tied the game and it remained close until the final buzzer sounded.
Trailing by three with 17 seconds to go, Tubbs hit a pair of free throws and FIT head coach Billy Mims called a timeout. On the ensuing possession, the Panthers forced a turnover at the 14-second mark. Following a Tampa timeout, a Spartan defender drew a charge, resulting in a FIT turnover.
Jermaine Jackson purposefully fouled Anthony Griffis with nine seconds on the clock. He connected on both of his free throws to make it a three-point game.
Chris Carter fired what would have been a game-tying three-pointer from the left wing, but it was off the mark.
“We beat ourselves more than Tampa beat us,” Mims said. “An 11-0 Tampa run hurt us in the first half and we gave up too many layups in the second half. Terrance Tubbshad a great night. Chris Carter, the league’s leading scorer, was 2-of-12 from the floor. Julius Reid was 4-of-14, so our two guards were 6-of-26. We didn’t get Terrance the ball enough in the second half. He never once said to his teammates ‘give me the ball.’ He’s not a selfish player.”
The loss was the Panthers’ eighth single digit loss of the season. In those eight defeats, they have lost by an average of five points.
“We’ve lost on the road twice in overtime,” Mims said. “We also lost a close game to Nova Southeastern and here in a close game. We don’t have a lot of experience now and we don’t have very much chemistry just yet, but I really like this team. I love coaching this team. They’re a lot of fun and they never quit. We may be 1-7 right now, but they believe we can go 8-0 in the second half of the [SSC] season. Sooner than later some luck is going to go our way.”
Tubbs finished the game 10-of-16 from the field, 7-of-8 from the arc and 6-of-6 from the line. He also had six rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes. Jackson contributed 13 points in 37 minutes. Julius Reid scored 12 with seven assists and five steals, while playing all 40 minutes.
Reid, the nation’s leader in steals per game, is now averaging 4.23 steals per contest.
The Panthers (7-10, 1-7 SSC) will return to the Clemente Center to play host to Barry University on Saturday at 4 p.m. Fans will have an opportunity to bid on a team signed jersey, basketball, team picture and a team poster of last year’s team throughout the 2 p.m. women’s game and the first half of the men’s game.
At halftime, the silent auction will close. The Panthers will present Barry with a check for the money raised during the silent auction and any donations they received for the Cesar Odio Leukemia Foundation. Odio, Barry’s head men’s basketball coach, was diagnosed with Leukemia for the second time last April.
