Florida Tech Men’s Hoops Opens New Year With Road Showdown At Lynn

By  //  January 2, 2016

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Following a solid 2-1 league start, featuring victories over Tampa and defending national champion Florida Southern, the Panthers now hope to cap the difficult four-game stretch away from the Clemente Center with a win at Lynn this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech has made a living on the road in the early going when it comes to Sunshine State Conference play.

Following a solid 2-1 league start, featuring victories over Tampa and defending national champion Florida Southern, the Panthers now hope to cap the difficult four-game stretch away from the Clemente Center with a win at Lynn this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

“This will be a very tough game, our fourth straight Sunshine State Conference game on the road to open the season,” said head coach Billy Mims.

“We’re 2-1 right now and I’d give just about anything to come back from Boca Raton Saturday night 3-1 in the conference. That would put us in good shape with our schedule pretty favorable down the stretch.”

Billy Mims
Billy Mims

A possible win likely won’t come easy, though, against a Fighting Knights club that reached the Sweet 16 in 2014-15. Lynn began the year 3-3, but has since earned ‘W’s’ in three of its previous four contests, including a 97-91 victory against Saint Leo on Dec. 5 to halt its three-game skid to open league action.

Back from last season’s squad is the senior trio of David Johnson, Fred Landers and Russell Wilson. Johnson and Landers are both among the top-10 in the SSC in scoring, averaging a combined 38.2 points per game, while Wilson currently ranks second with 7.1 assists per game.

Wilson was also the hero a year ago after converting a lay-in with 0.2 seconds remaining to sink the Panthers in overtime of the SSC Tournament Quarterfinal.

Following an 11-day hiatus, Florida Tech had an opportunity to shake any holiday rust in an exhibition contest at Stetson early Wednesday afternoon.

As close as they’ve been to full strength in over a month (still without Caleb Wigginton), the Panthers hung around with the Hatters until being torched from long range down the stretch by Stetson’s Luke Doyle en route to a hard-fought 93-83 defeat.

Corbin Jackson
Corbin Jackson

Corbin Jackson posted a complete stat line in the losing effort consisting of 20 points, eight boards and five blocked shots, all team highs.

Meanwhile, Jermohn Queen registered 19 points and six assists in his first career start in Crimson and Gray.

Sam Daniel matched Queen with 19 of his own in 35 minutes with Jordan Majors chipping in with a dozen to round out four Panthers in double-figure scoring.

Florida Tech Panthers Seek To Continue Winning Ways On the Road SaturdayRelated Story:
Florida Tech Panthers Seek To Continue Winning Ways On the Road Saturday

Dating back to Feb. 2011, FIT has knocked off LU in nine of the last 11 meetings in the series.

FIT last started 3-1 or better in the SSC in 2011-12, the same year the Panthers secured the program’s first SSC regular season title.

Jim Mitchell and Paul Van Scott will have the call live from the de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center. For complete coverage, log onto FloridaTechSports.com.