Strong Second Half Propels Florida Tech Panthers To 97-89 Home Conference Win Over Lynn
By Daniel Supraner, Athletic Communications Director // February 16, 2017
Panthers end two game slide, now 6-10 in ssc
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech men snapped their short two-game losing streak in an impressive fashion as they thrilled the crowd in the Clemente Center with a 97-89 victory over Sunshine State Conference foe Lynn on Wednesday.
The game started off slowly for the Panthers. However, they quickly woke up and caught fire from beyond the arc, draining five-of-10 in the first half.
This effort was led by Sam Daniel who managed to drop three of the five himself.
Coach Billy Mims acknowledged this fact saying “The guy that kept us in it in the first half was definitely Sam Daniel. He got hot from behind the arc, he made some big threes and that definitely kept us in the game.”
The Panthers, despite their strong offensive efforts, trailed the Fighting Knights, 36-42 at the half.
But when they went into the locker room at half time the coaching staff knew exactly what adjustments needed to be made.
The teams’ goal for the second half was simple, shut down Marquan Botley and Jamal Palmer.
They achieved this goal holding the pair to less than half of their combined first half totals.
“In the second half I thought the defensive effort was fantastic. At the half Botley and Palmer had combined for 31 of their 42 points. In the second half we held Botley to eight and Palmer to six,” said Mims.
Leading the Panthers in scoring was Daniel with 27 points, 21 of which from beyond the arc, tying a season high for him.
Not far behind was Rafael Casanova with 20 points off of the bench for the men. Three other players for the team managed a double-digit scoring output.
Related Story:SCDTV SPECIAL: The Billy Mims Show, With Florida Tech Panthers Head Basketball Coach Billy Mims
Defensively, Daniel and Robert Booth led FIT, with eight rebounds apiece while Derek Murphy erased two of the Fighting Knights shots and one steal.
The Crimson and Gray will hit the road Saturday for their last away game of the season as they head north to Daytona Beach to take on the Eagles of Embry Riddle at 7 p.m. ET.
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