Panthers Keep Hopes Alive with Victory at NSU

Robert Booth - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography
Senor Robert Booth hit the game-winning shot with 6.6 seconds left, Saturday, propelling the Florida Tech Men’s basketball team to a come-from-behind win over Nova Southeastern, 75-74 in a must-win game for the Panthers.

“On that last put-back, that was the play of the day for him,” said Panthers coach Billy Mims of Booth, during his post-game interview with Paul Van Scott. “He struggled at the line today, but I didn’t make the change, I stuck with Bobby because I said he’s gonna make a defensive play or make a play and you know what, my faith in Robert Booth paid off.”

Booth finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds, while Patrick Anderson went for 19 and 11. Derek Murphy and Jordan Majors finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Sam Daniel, who is the second leading scorer in the Sunshine State Conference behind Majors, was just 3-for-12 from the field, but hit two big three pointers at crucial times in the game.

Harrison Goodrick led the Sharks with a game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds. He had his double-double before the first half ended. Dwayne Gibson was right behind him with 24 points.

Both teams got off to a very slow start, with the Panthers jumping out to a 7-0 lead, mainly on the strength of offensive put-backs. It took the Sharks 4:58 to score their first bucket of the game, as they started 0-for-9 from the field.

Once they got going, the home team was tough to stop, as they went on a 12-1 run during that first half and took a 39-29 lead at halftime. With his team down by double digits at the half, Florida Tech coach Billy Mims had a message for his guys in the locker room.

“I talked about toughness,” he said. “I think we finished the half with a real lack of toughness and I am going to give you guys about five minutes to prove you are gonna be tough in the second half.” He then went on to name all the bench players and said that he would put them in.

The team responded in a big way. Nova led 41-31 with 18:22 to go in the game and the Panthers chipped away, until Majors hit a three with 15:57 to go, tying the game at 43.

“In the first five minutes, we were diving on the floor, we were taking charges, we were getting stops and rebounds,” said Mims. “In the first five minutes of the half, I threatened to take them out and I ended up playing them the entire second half.”

Daniel hit his first three with 14:38 to go, giving the Panthers a 48-45 lead. The game went back-and-forth from there, with the Panthers biggest lead from there on out, being six points, with 8:10 left. Pat Huffine gave the Sharks a 69-66 lead with 3:27 to go.

After Anderson hit two free-throws with 1:44 to go, tying it again at 69, Gibson hit a three with 1:22 left, giving his squad a 72-69 lead. Booth made one from the line with 1:02 left to cut it to 72-70, but Goodrick came back down and hit a layup to make it 74-70.

The Panthers (12-10, 5-8 SSC) got the ball to Daniel on their next trip and he drained a three, getting the Panthers to within one, 74-73 with 37 seconds left. It was a huge shot for a guy that had struggled for much of the day.

“Sam was 1-for-10 behind the arc until he hit that one,” said Mims. “That’s what’s great about Sam Daniel, he can have a rough night, but you gotta leave him on the floor, because at some point he’s gonna hit that shot, you just gotta believe it.”

Anderson made the defensive play of the game, stealing the ball from Goodrick with 12 seconds left and he dished it to Booth for what turned out to be the game winner. Nova did get one last chance, but a three from Troy Spears did not fall and the Panthers went home winners.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Nova Southeastern


The Panthers return home Wednesday night to host Florida Southern. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.



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