Lynn Outlasts FIT in Overtime

Jordan Majors - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography

The Florida Tech Men’s Basketball team overcame a 17 point second half deficit at Lynn Friday night, but the Fighting Knights proved to be too much in overtime, taking down the Panthers 102-94 in a Sunshine State Conference battle.

It was an odd night for Florida Tech, who sat their three best players for the first 7:21 of the contest for what coach Billy Mims said in his post-game interview, was a violation of team rules.

“We had some guys that weren’t where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there,” he said. “We had team rules that were violated, nothing serious. It was more punctuality and professionalism that anything else.”

The starters that were in held their own, as they were only down 11-6 when the normal starting lineup made their first appearance. Unfortunately, no matter who was in there, the Panthers were unable to get any offensive consistency for most the game.

Free throws by Patrick Anderson cut the Fighting Knights lead to 22-19 with 7:23 left in the first half, but an 8-0 run by the home team boosted it to a 30-19 lead. The Panthers battled back, trailing just 34-30 with 1:58 left, but Lynn went on another eight-point run and led 42-30 with 1:09 left.

Jordan Majors jumper with one second left, cut it to 10, 44-34 at the half. Majors finished the half with 11 points to lead the Panthers, while Sam Daniel, who is always money, especially behind the arc was 0-for-6 overall including 0-for-3 from downtown, in 13 minutes.

Florida Tech was abysmal from the field, shooting 38.5 percent (10-for-26) including 1-for-7 from three-point range. That is very out of character for this team. Meanwhile, Lynn was 7-for-15. That was the difference in the half and it ended up being the difference in the game.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Panthers found themselves down 63-49, but they went on an 11-1 run, to cut it to 64-60 with 7:56 left. Lynn battled, continuing to hit threes and before you know it they were up 77-67, with 3:16 left in the game.

The Panthers (9-5, 3-3 SSC) never gave up, despite being out rebounded by a wide margin and not hitting shots that they normally make in their sleep. They went on an 11-0 run from 3:16 to the 1:17 mark and led 78-77, after a Majors layup.

The Fighting Knights (7-4, 2-3 SSC) tied it and then led by as many as three, before Antonis Pefanis hit a three with 41 seconds left to tie it at 81. Terrell Rogers, who had 22 points for Lynn, hit a jumper with 19 seconds left to take the lead, but Majors answered with another layup 10 seconds later, to force overtime.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Fighting Knights jumped out to an early lead and hit three three pointers in the overtime period, outscoring the Panthers 19-11.

“They knocked down 15 of 28 threes’ and the ironic thing about that, they’re the worst three-point shooting team in the Sunshine State Conference,” said Mims. “They’re three-point percentage was last in the league coming in and it’s hard to win when that happens.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers were just 5-for-21 from three.

Majors finished the game with 30 points and Patrick Anderson had 20, but Sam Daniel scored just four in 21 minutes of basketball.

“For my money, he’s the best player in the league,” Mims said of Majors. “It was a hell of a game for Pat,” he said.

The Panthers had 10 assists and 14 turnovers for the game and were out rebounded 49-38 for the game. Statistically, the game was very lopsided, yet the Panthers were in it until the end.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Lynn Box Score

The Panthers don’t have time to think about this loss. They are right back at it tomorrow afternoon, in Fort Myers, against Division I Florida Gulf Coast at 1:00 p.m. 

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