Tampa three-pointers Bury Florida Tech Men
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| Photo Credit: James Ragan Photography |
The Panthers had a tire blow on the way to the game,
resulting in a 20-minute delay to the start of the game.
They blew another tire in figurative sense on the court, as
their defense had no answer for the Spartans, who hit 17 of their 37
three-pointers, with 10 of those coming off the hot hand of Anthony Gamble, who
finished with 32 points to lead the home team.
Tampa also won the rebounding battle handily, grabbing 45
off the glass, to the Panthers 25.
“That’s the worst performance we’ve had in a decade,
period,” said Florida Tech coach Billy Mims in his postgame interview with Paul
Van Scott. “We tried every defense on the planet and none of them worked.”
The Panthers were down early in this one, hitting two of
nine shots at one point, but they battled back with a 6-0 run to lead 19-18.
The Spartans had not scored in three minutes, prior to the media timeout with
7:41 left, but with free-throws, they led 20-19.
Jordan Majors and
Sam Daniel hit three’s for the
Panthers, but they had no answer for Gamble, who hit eight three’s in the first
half and carried the home team to a 42-35 halftime lead.
“We turned Anthony Gamble into an All-American tonight,”
said Mims. “He made 11 shots from the floor 10 of them were three’s.”
Majors led the Panthers with 11 points at the half and Sam
Daniel had nine, hitting three from beyond the arc. Gamble’s 20 points led
Tampa, including six three-pointers.
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| Jordan Majors - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography |
The Spartans (7-3, 2-1 SSC) started the second half on a 7-0
run and led by 16 before the halfway mark of the second half. They had a run
that saw them hit seven of nine from the field early in the half. Tampa
finished off another 6-0 run with 5:48 left in the contest and the Panthers
went cold, going 3:54 without a field goal.
Mekhi Biffle finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and six
assists for the Spartans. Combined with Gamble’s effort, Tampa basically beat
the Panthers with two guys.
“Gamble and Biffle made 15 of their 17 threes’,” said Mims. “That’s
why we went to a triangle and two to try and shut them down. That didn’t work.
We played with no enthusiasm and no energy and we didn’t execute on the
offensive end.”
Mims was surprised that the Panthers didn’t show up, because
he said they had a great week of practice. He said it was Jekyll and Hyde and
the team he saw this week did not get on the bus to Tampa.
“It was an embarrassing 40 minutes,” he said. I’ve been
doing this 36 years and I don’t know if I’ve had an effort that poor in any of
those 36 years.”
Tampa had three of their top six starters not even in
uniform and we couldn’t muster an effort,” Mims continued. “We have some talent
on our basketball team, but unless we can find some old-fashioned toughness,
this won’t be our last embarrassing performance.”
For more info: Florida
Tech @ Tampa Box Score
The Panthers return home next Sunday and Monday to host the
Florida Tech Winter Classic. They kick things off against Puerto Rico-Rio
Piedras on Sunday, at 2:00 p.m.
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