Eagles Soar over FIT in Men’s Hoops
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| Photo credit: James Ragan Photography |
It was a tough day at the office for the Florida Tech
Panthers on Saturday, as they dropped a 101-49 decision to Division I power Florida
Gulf Coast, in Fort Myers. This was essentially an exhibition for the Panthers,
who were coming off a tough overtime loss
at Lynn on Friday night and didn’t even arrive at their hotel until 1:30
Saturday morning.
Panthers coach Billy Mims didn’t use the late arrival as an
excuse and his team certainly didn’t play tired to start the game. They came
out on a 1-0 run, with Patrick Anderson
and Sam Daniel knocking down a
couple early three-pointers.
“We opened up man-to-man, toe-to-toe with them we played
good D and I thought we executed well,” Mims said.
The Panthers went up 12-4 with 4:35 gone in the half and the
Eagles fought back, to take a 16-15 lead. They stretched it to 20-15 with 11:25
to go and Daniel cut it back to two, with another three-point bucket. Robert
Booth got the Panthers within two again moments later, at 22-20, but the Eagles
stepped on the gas pedal from there.
Up 27-22, the Eagles reeled off 13 straight to go up 40-22.
After Anderson hit a free-throw for the Panthers, the Eagles ran off another 13
and with 38 seconds left in the half, they were up 53-23.
“It was just about how much they stepped up their intensity
all over the floor said Mims of FGCU. “We played well for about 10 minutes and
the rest of the half, they outscored us 23-3, or something like that and that
was the difference.”
Florida Tech did score the last basket of the half, to go in
to the locker room 53-25, but for Florida Gulf Coast, it was about as good as
you can play in 20 minutes. The stats told the story.
They outscored the Panthers 13-2 in the last 3:52 to and
26-3 over the last 7:25 of the half. That included outscoring the Panthers
bench 16-0 and had a 30-2 advantage in points in the paint. They had a 12-2
advantage in second chance points and got 25 points off Florida Tech turnovers,
while giving up only three.
The home team kept the pressure on in the second half, outscoring
the Panthers 48-24. When you consider that the Panthers scored the first 10
points of the game and scored 39 the rest of the way, that tells you just how
dominant the Eagles were.
“The intangibles tell the story of the game,” said Mims. “In
my 36 years, I don’t think I’ve played a game like this anywhere. Mississippi
State didn’t beat us like this. They outscored us 62-10 in the paint, points
off turnovers 41-6. They had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second chance
points. We only had six offensive rebounds that led to four points.”
The most telling stat of the night was bench points. The
Eagles put up 43 off the bench, while the Panthers scored one. If you take
those points away, the starters for Florida Gulf Coast outscored the Panthers
58-48. Mims said, that speaks to the depth of a Division I team compared to a
Division II team.
The Eagles (11-5) had a lot of fun at the Panthers expense,
showing why they call Fort Myers Dunk City. They were impressive in every facet
of the game. “We just did a poor job of getting back and defending any of that,”
Mims said.
Demetris Morant scored 20 points to lead FGCU, to go along with his nine rebounds. Christian Carlyle poured in 19 points while pulling down six rebounds. He also contributed six assists.
Daniel had 20 points for the Panthers and Robert Booth had eight points and nine
rebounds. “He went toe-to-toe with some big bodies out there and was probably
our only offense in the paint,” said Mims of Booth. “We only scored 10 points
in the paint and Robert had six of them.”
The other telling stat in this game was the 30 assists that
FGCU had, while turning the ball over only nine turnovers. Conversely, the
Panthers had seven assists and turned it over 28 times.
“You beat yourself that way,” said Mims. “With the points in
the paint and the rebounding, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
The Panthers (9-5) play just one more game in the next 12
days, which is why this game was scheduled, according to Mims. “I didn’t wasn’t
to go one game in 13 days after taking a week off,” he said. “We played this
game just to get some game experience, under the lights in front of a crowd and
that’s what we’ll take away from this.”
It also gave Mims the chance to empty his bench in the final
minutes, giving those guys some time on a big stage and with the ESPN 3 cameras
there.
Now, the focus turns to Embry-Riddle at the Clemente Center
on Wednesday night, January 4. That game tips off at 7:30 p.m.
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