Panthers Sweep Lynn In Men’s Basketball

By  //  February 21, 2013

FIT Meets Florida Southern On Saturday

Florida Tech forward Chris Carter scored 28 points as the Panthers defeated Lynn University on Wednesday night in Boca Raton. (Image courtesy Florida Tech)

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA – Behind 28 points from Chris Carter, Florida Tech (13-10, 6-7 SSC) rolled to a 90-80 victory over Lynn (11-13, 3-11 SSC) Wednesday night at the de Hoernle Center in Boca Raton.

The Panthers have now won six straight and are in sole possession of fifth place in the Sunshine State Conference after starting the first half of SSC play at 1-7.

The win also solidifies a regular-season sweep of Lynn. On Jan. 16, FIT defeated the Fighting Knights 62-60 for its first SSC win of the year.

“We played two games against Lynn this season and we did a great job defending Slobodan Miljanic,” head coach Billy Mims said. “Chris Carter guarded him most of the night and did a great job. Nick Stahl also guarded him and did well. Randy Echols had a good performance off the bench, scoring 10 points in 19 minutes. Our big three (Reid, Carter and Jermaine Jackson) came to play tonight. I think our one, two and three are the best in the Sunshine State Conference.

“Chris Carter had a huge night with 28 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. He did a great job defensively. Tonight’s win was a good, convincing victory. The guys are on a roll. They believe in the system and each other.”

The first half was tightly played from the start as the largest lead was only five points. It included five ties and the lead changed hands seven times, however, the Panthers led the final 6:51 of the opening period. They would enter the locker room ahead by three, 40-37, after shooting 57.1 percent from the field.

Lynn’s Jerrell Oxendine tied the game at 40-all 16 seconds into the second half. His bucket resulted in the last tie of the game as the Panthers reeled off a 12-3 run in the first 5:40 of the new period. FIT worked to increase its lead to a game-high 15 points with 9:32 remaining.

Julius Reid scored 21 points and just missed a double-double by one rebound. He also had six assists, three steals and one block. Jermaine Jackson, this week’s SSC Player of the Week presented by VALIC, scored 18 points. Terrance Tubbs had 11 and Randy Echols provided 10 off the bench.

Against the second-ranked defense in the SSC, FIT connected on 58 percent (29-of-50) of its shots from the field, 40 percent (6-of-15) from the arc and 78.8 percent (26-of-33) from the line.

The Panthers will play their last road game of the regular season on Saturday at sixth-ranked Florida Southern. The Moccasins fell at Eckerd Wednesday night, 85-75, and are now in a first-place tie with Saint Leo in the SSC.