Florida Tech Men Enter Final Week Of Regular Season
By Florida Tech Athletic Communications // February 25, 2015
'A win would guarantee a spot in the Sunshine State Conference Basketball Championship'
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Fifteen weeks down and only one more week remains for Florida Tech Basketball as it begins the last week of the 2014-15 regular season on Wednesday at Rollins College.
The women’s game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the Alfond Sports Center.
Head men’s coach Billy Mims and the Panthers are looking to gain some steam after dropping four of their last five games.
A win on Wednesday would guarantee a spot in the Sunshine State Conference Basketball Championship and eliminate Rollins (9-17, 2-12 SSC) from conference tournament playoff contention.
A victory would solidify a season series sweep of the Tars, which last happened during the 2011-12 season. It would also give Rollins its 18th loss, which would be the most losses for one season in 51 years. The last time the Tars lost 18 or more games was in the 1963-64 season when they went 5-21.
Chris Carter and Corbin Jackson are averaging double figures in scoring in conference play.
Carter is averaging team-high 14.0 points on the season and a team best 13.8 points in SSC-only games. Jackson is right behind him at 13.3 points per game and 11.9 points in SSC-only contests.
Jackson is in the running for his second consecutive SSC Defensive Player of the Year award. He leads the league with 10.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. He is second in offensive and defensive rebounds at 3.8 and 6.3, respectively.
Rollins has won two of its last three since it snapped an 11-game losing streak. Since Feb. 14, the Tars have beat Eckerd 70-59 and Nova Southeastern 88-85 in overtime.
Tampa, however, dealt them a 73-63 loss last Saturday.
Jeff Dirkin, who entered last Saturday’s game averaging single digits in scoring, went off. He poured in 24 points with eight rebounds.
The Tars trailed by six at the break, but were held to 39-percent shooting from the field in the second half. Tampa came out firing in the second stanza, hitting 54-percent of its shots.
Alex Blessig enters the game as Rollins leading scorer at 11.9 points per game. Jeff Merton and Sharif Almulla are also averaging double figures at 10.7 and 10.4.
In the first meeting of the season, the Panthers fought back from an 11-point deficit with 13:46 to play to win 69-65. Jermaine Jackson came through with the go-ahead three-pointer with 3:17 on the clock.
Rollins will offer live pay-per-view video and free live stats with the links available at FloridaTechSports.com
Paul Van Scott will call the game for the Panthers at FloridaTechSports.com/live
