Florida Tech Panthers Men’s, Women’s Basketball Teams Fall On The Road At St. Leo

Men drop fifth game in past six , fall to 12-12

The Panthers late season slide continues. Florida has lost nine of their past 12 games, including six of their past seven. (FIT image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – The Florida Tech Panthers were swept on the season by the St. Leo Lions following a  97-76  loss on Saturday night at the Bowman Center.

Saint Leo put on a shooting clinic on Saturday evening, especially in the first half. The Lions were 20-27 from the field (74%), including 10-14 from beyond the arc.

The Lions shot an astounding 69 percent from the floor for the game, their best mark of the season by 16 percent.

The Panthers trailed 52-35 following the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half was a bit closer as St. Leo outscored Florida Tech 45-41. On the night, four Panthers scored in double digits.

Sam Daniel was FIT’s leading scorer with 19-points, 14 of them coming in the first half. Jordan Majors finished with 14-points, while Patrick Anderson had 12-points and Robert Booth chipped in with 10-points.

The Panthers late season slide continues. Florida has lost nine of their past 12 games, including six of their past seven. FIT is now 12-12 on the season and have dropped to 5-10 in Sunshine State Conference play.

Only four games remain in the regular season, with three of them at home where the Panthers are 9-4 this year. Florida Tech will look to get back on track Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Panthers return to the Clemente Center to host SSC foe Lynn.

Tip off for the contest is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.

Lady Panthers allow early lead to slip away late in 70-65 loss:

Panther guard Gudlaug Juliusdottir recorded 13 points and six assists. (FIT image)

Despite getting off to a fast start and leading for more than 31 minutes against Saint Leo on the road, Florida Tech was unable to keep the momentum going late in the contest and the Panthers fell to the Lions 70-65 in Sunshine State Conference action Saturday night.

DeLise Williams led FIT with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Gudlaug Juliusdottir recorded 13 points and six assists, while Tereza Sedlakova chipped in nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Chelsy Springs paced SLU with a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ragen Dotson and Asia Royster added 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Both teams struggled from the field in the contest with the Panthers outshooting the Lions 39.1 percent to 36.1 percent. FIT also controlled the rebounding department in the game 57-33.

However, 21 turnovers and a 6-of-18 performance at the charity stripe erased the Panthers’ positive efforts in the game and contributed to their loss.

It was back-and-forth early one in the contest but a 9-0 run near the end of the first quarter gave FIT a 21-10 advantage heading into the second period. The Lions came roaring back, outscoring the Panthers 23-12 to tie the game at 33-33 as the teams went into halftime.

Florida Tech picked up the pace in the third, limiting SLU to just three buckets while building its lead to as much as 11, 50-39, on a free throw by Sedlakoa with 1:42 left in the stanza.

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The Panthers would continue to lead the ball game up until the 3:53 mark of the fourth quarter when Spring converted an offensive put-back to give Saint Leo a 62-61 advantage.

Williams’ answered for FIT, completing a three-point play and handing her team a slim 64-62 advantage with 3:23 remaining in the fourth.

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However, the Lions’ defense stepped it up and stifled the Panthers’ offense the rest of the way, allowing the SLU to stage a 8-1 run over the final 3:06 of play and steal the contest by a five-point margin.

Florida Tech will look to get back on track Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Panthers return to the Clemente Center to host SSC foe Lynn.

Tip off for the contest is set for 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.

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