Panthers Lose Controversial Game to Saint Leo
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| Robert Booth - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography |
The Florida Tech Panthers had their chances on Wednesday,
but the Saint Leo Lions snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, beating the
Panthers 90-79 in overtime. The game was much closer than the score would
indicate, as the Lions outscored the Panthers 14-3 in overtime, with 11 of
those points coming on free throws.
The Panthers (11-7, 4-5 SSC) were frustrated at times down the stretch,
combined with Saint Leo getting seemingly every call to go their way at crucial
times in the game.
Sam Daniel led all scorers with 28 points for Florida Tech, Patrick Anderson and Jordan Majors had 19 each.
The first half went the way of the Panthers as they held
Saint Leo’s big three of Justin Satchell had seven points, Tyreece Bryce did
not score and Marcus Dewberry had six points.
Meanwhile, the Panthers closed on a 12-5 run to end the half
and went to the locker room, up 12.
“Our game plan was outstanding and we did everything right
to put ourselves in a position to win the basketball game,” said Florida Tech
coach Billy Mims. “We played about as good a first half as we played all
season, 12-point lead 41-29.”
The surprise of the half for the Panthers was their 4-of-12
shooting beyond the arc. This is a team that is known for great accuracy from
distance and on this night, it just wasn’t there. Saint Leo went 5-for-13 from
deep in the first half.
The Panthers built the lead to 17, with 18:36 to go in the
game, but the Lions came out on fire in the second half and hit their first six
three point shots, including four in the first five minutes, closing the gap to
57-50, with 13:33 left. They got it down to 66-64, with six minutes left in the
contest.
“In the second half of the basketball game there was a stretch
where they got hot,” said Mims. “They have great shooters, but I thought maybe
we got a little tired, so where we got to those shooters in the first half, as
the game wore on, we didn’t get to those shooters in the second half.”
The Lions (8-10, 3-6 SSC) ended up hitting 11 threes in that second half and
went 16-of-32 overall. Dewberry, who finished with 24 points, hit a three with
1:20 left in regulation, to put Saint Leo up 73-72. It was a rare lead for the
Lions in this game.
“You can say we blew a 17-point lead, but we didn’t blow the
lead turning the ball over, we blew the lead driving to the basket in traffic
and trying to make some tough shots,” said Mims. “We’re in the bonus, so we’re
trying to drive the basketball and draw contact. There was a lot of contact, we
just didn’t get the calls to go our way.”
Anderson hit two free-throws to put the Panthers up
74-73 and then on the Panthers next trip down the floor, he drove to the basket
and laid it in, with 38 seconds left, to give the Panthers a 76-73 lead. Unfortunately
for Florida Tech, the Lions got down the floor and Satchell got open for the
game-tying three and nailed it.
“The way we were defending at that point, we were never gonna
leave one of the big three,” said Mims. “If we’re gonna get beat by one of the
other two players on the floor, or tied, great… but our goal was not to let one
of the big three beat us and we didn’t execute that.”
Brice drove and one of our defenders left Satchell to help
on Brice,” Mims continued. “That really hurt, because if we don’t leave
Satchell on that play, you and I are smiling and talking about a great win.”
The Panthers had one more chance in regulation, with
Anderson taking a shot that he makes nine out of 10 times. He got a good look
outside and put it up with four seconds left. The shot banged off the rim and Robert Booth was there for the rebound. He got the ball up with .5 seconds left on the
clock and was hammered by a Lions’ player underneath and did not get the call,
forcing overtime.
“I thought there was a lot of contact in the lane that we
didn’t get to go our way,” said Mims. “Kid did everything right, he got the rebound,
went back up with it and I thought there was contact on the play. Was it enough
to create a foul? I can’t make that call. I do know, as Bobby shot the
basketball, there was definitely contact on the play. The whistle didn’t blow,
the horn sounded and we went to overtime.”
The officials were the story in the overtime as well, even
more so than in regulation. With 1:51 to
go in overtime, things started to get interesting. Saint Leo was fouled going
to the basket and the shot fell, giving the Lions a three-point play and
putting them up 82-77. Anderson was then fouled and hit both shots,
making it a three-point game, 82-79, with 1:41 left.
On the Panthers’ next
trip down the floor, Daniel hit the game-tying three but it was immediately
waived off, as the official said Booth set an illegal screen underneath. This
was about a minute after Booth looked to have a clean block at the other end,
which the official called a foul on.
“He said Booth committed an illegal screen, but he didn’t
set a screen. He turned away from the defender, so Sam could get the shot. I
actually thought the defender initiated by the defender, but because of that,
he was rewarded free-throws and after that point, it was just chaos.”
That gave Saint Leo the ball and Booth was then called for a
technical foul, for staring at the official. It was a three-point
ballgame at that point and the technical was called, despite nothing being said
by Booth.
The game was decided
the game when they called that technical, Satchell hit those shots, only to go
back to the line and shoot two more, after Mims was given a technical. When all
was said, and done, it was 86-79.
The next trip down the floor featured a hard foul by Daniel as he was going up for a rebound, that resulted in some pushing and
shoving and Mims decided at that point to get his guys off the floor, to avoid
any other issues. Saint Leo decided to leave their starters out there.
“The final score to me is irrelevant,” said Mims. “When Sam’s
basket was disallowed, that probably should’ve been the final score. The rest
of it was just a lot of whistles and free-throws I’m not sure were warranted,
but down the stretch that’s what it became. The 14-3 overtime is certainly not
indicative of the way our basketball team played.”
Editors View: It
was sad to see a game that well-played, come down to the officials picking and
choosing when to make calls. No call was made on the shot by Booth at the end
of regulation, but you disallow a game-tying three with a minute left in
regulation and then call a technical foul on a player who has had everything go
against him in the game and was upset. He didn’t yell, was not in the face of
an opposing player or an official, but the call was made for a stare. In a
conference game, that is a key decision made by a referee and could be a big
difference on seeding, come conference tournament time.
The Panthers now head out on the
road, Saturday, to take on the Tars of Rollins at 4 p.m. ET.
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