Panthers Hold Off Flagler 87-81, Improve To 8-1
By Florida Tech Athletic Communications // December 16, 2014
Five Panthers scored in double figures
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Five Panthers scored in double figures and two chipped in nine points each as Florida Tech left Flagler Gymnasium on Monday with an 87-81 win over the Saints. FIT is now 8-1, while Flagler falls to 5-2.
Chris Carter scored a team-high 19 points and supplied five assists in 40 minutes.
Corbin Jackson registered his fourth double-double of the season, contributing 15 points and 13 rebounds. He also swatted away four shots and has 34 blocks on the season.
Sam Daniel chipped in 13 points with five rebounds.
Jordan Majors totaled 12 points and was 5-fo-5 from the free throw line. Akeem Johnson was the first Panther inserted into the game and finished with 10 points. Jermaine Jackson and Isaac Spence recorded nine points each.
“I’m really pleased with our effort today,” head coach Billy Mims said.
“We had a disappointing loss a week ago. We’ve been inching to get back on the court ever since. Every single player that stepped on the floor today contributed positively. That’s one heck of a team effort.”
Chris Carter had his best game of the year, scoring 19 points with four rebounds, five assists and only two turnovers. Sam Daniel played well. Corbin had a double-double.
“We won the game down inside. Look at our execution, we had 17 assists, 11 turnovers and we made 55-percent of our shots on the road. There were a lot of things we did well tonight,” Mims said.
The Panthers led by as many as nine points in the first half. Flagler, however, closed the opening period on a 7-2 run to trail by only three at the break, 44-41.
Dennis Diaz made it a one-point game 28 seconds into the second half only to have FIT respond. Carter finished off a three-point play at the 14:37 mark to give his team a 60-49 lead. Randy Echols kicked a pass out to Carter with just under 10 minutes left for one of his three three-pointers.
The triple put the Panthers up by 14, their largest lead of the game.
“We won both halves,” Mims said. “I thought we came out and took charge in the second half. We built a 14-point lead and let it slip away, but Flagler has a good basketball team. They have some outstanding guards that shoot the ball well. Keshaun Hamilton is a big time Division I body. He had 25 points, 13 boards and was a handful for us.”
Hamilton, a transfer from Oklahoma, scored a game-high 25 points in 28 minutes, but turned the ball over six times.
The Panthers shot 54.8-percent for the game and held Flagler to 43.8-percent shooting. They also won points in the paint, 48-30, points off turnovers, 17-15, and bench scoring, 19-17.
FIT resumes its five-game road trip on Friday when it opposes Livingstone in a neutral site game at Claflin in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
The Panthers will then play Claflin on Saturday at 3 p.m. Jim Mitchell will broadcast both games at FloridaTechSports.com/live.
