Florida Tech Panthers’ Defense Goes Cold In Second-Half, Falls To Tampa 96-66
By Florida Tech // December 11, 2016
54-Points surrendered in 2nd Half by FIT
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech entered Saturday’s road tilt with Sunshine State Conference foe Tampa in the midst of a five-game winning streak. The Spartans, however, halted the Panthers’ momentum, handing FIT a 96-66 defeat.
Jordan Majors led the Panthers in scoring, netting 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and adding three rebounds and three assists. Patrick Anderson added 14 points on 5-of-12 from the field and three assists and Robert Booth and Sam Daniel rounded out the Panthers in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
FIT was unable to corral UT sophomore forward Anthony Gamble, who nailed an astonishing 10-of-22 three point attempts on the way to a game-high 32 points. Mekhi Biffle had 19 points, 10 boards and six assists, while Austin Rettig registered 14 points and Duke Shelton posted 11 points.
Where the game was lost was on the glass. The Crimson and Grey were outrebounded 45-25 in the game, with no FIT player grabbing more than four boards. The Spartans turned 15 offensive rebounds into 20 points, while the Panthers managed just four second-chance points.
The game was a back-and-forth contest, with the lead changing hands five times in the first five minutes of action. FIT grabbed what ended up being its last lead of the game with 6:24 left in the half on a Majors three but UT responded with an 11-19 run to close out the period with a seven point lead.
The second half was all Spartans. FIT was outscored 54-31 in the final 20 minutes, allowing Tampa to shoot over 58 percent from the floor and making just 38.5 percent of its own second half field goal attempts. By the midpoint of the half the Spartan lead had ballooned to 21, reaching 30 by the time the final horn sounded.
FIT returns home before the holidays, hosting the Florida Tech Winter Classic Sunday and Monday at the Clemente Center. The Panthers will welcome Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, Point and Nova Southeastern to the Clemente Center, with FIT and UPRRP opening the weekend’s festivities Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
All live coverage will be available at FloridaTechSports.com/live
