Sports Lowdown

Doug Flutie (backward hat) got on the court during Panther Madness After a seven-year hiatus, Panther Madness returned to the Clemente Center, ahead of the men's and women's basketball teams starting their 2017-2018 seasons. There was a celebrity in the house as well, as Doug Flutie was paired with Sam Daniel in the demonstration of one of the events.  The night included fan-involved games such as knockout, lay-up drill, and NBA two ball, as well as a three-point shootout between the men and women Panthers and a dunk contest featuring seniors Sam Daniel and Michael Milligan , along with freshman Nieja Jordan .   Jordan won the contest, making two dunks, while Daniel went for degree of difficulty as he attempted to get a pass from a seated Antonis Pefanis (sophomore guard), as he leaped over Pefanis.  Unfortunately, Daniel was unable to finish on three attempts but  did finish a couple dunks later in the 15-minute scrimmage that concluded the...

Jordan Majors - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers were bounced from the Sunshine State Conference tournament on Wednesday, losing to number one seed Barry, 87-84 in Miami Shores. The loss ends the Panthers season, with a record of 15-14. Florida Tech were in a dog fight all night long and stood tall against a very high-powered Buccaneers offense. The visitors were especially strong in the first half, shooting 56 percent (14-of-25), including nine three-pointers. Jordan Majors and Patrick Anderson led the Florida Tech attack with 22 points apiece. Antonis Pefanis was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and finished with 14. Arie Williams triple gave the Bucs a 23-17 lead, but Sam Daniel answered, cutting the lead to three. Daniel finished with 11. Back-to-back threes by Daniel and Jordan Majors tied the game at 26, with 8:05 to go. With the game tied at 33-33, Pefanis came off the bench and hit a triple, giving the Panthers a 36-33 lead. ...

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 - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Men’s Basketball team beat Nova Southeastern Saturday, 98-90 and in the process won their fifth straight game and have now won seven out of eight, after two straight losses to start the season. The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Jordan Majors and Patrick Anderson dropping in 12 points apiece. Majors was 4-of-5 from three-point range and Anderson was 2-of-5, leading the Panthers to an 11-of-18 first half, from beyond the arc. “The difference in the game was clearly in two areas,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims in his postgame interview with Jim Mitchell. “We made 14 threes’ in the game and we’re shooting the ball as well as anybody in the conference,” he said. “We shot 41 percent behind the arc and when you shoot like that, it’s hard to lose games. The other thing that stood out was how well we passed the basketball, talk about a team effort, we had 26 assists and only 13 tur...

Jordan Majors #20 For the second time in seven days, the Florida Tech Men’s basketball team got a win over a visiting team from Puerto Rico. Jordan Majors 20 points led all scorers, in the Panthers 91-77 win over Puerto Rico Bayamon on Monday.  The win comes one week after the Panthers beat Puerto Rico Mayaguez 110-84. Majors was one assist and one rebound away from a triple-double, finishing with 20, nine and nine. The Panthers (3-3) were in a battle early, as the Vaqueros scored first on a steal and a hoop by Luis Cuascut. Majors got the Panthers going, scoring eight of their first 12 points. Florida Tech struggled in the first half defensively. Picking up 12 team fouls, but held a 38-32 lead at the break. “They’re a tough team to guard defensively because they’re small,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims. “They’re very quick and there’s nobody in our conference quite like them. They play hard and they’re very scrappy.” The teams were pretty ev...

The Florida Tech Panthers overcame a 15 point second half deficit on Wednesday and hung on to beat the Eckerd Tritons in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s basketball showdown. Jordan Majors led the Panthers with 35 points. "I have to take my hat off to Jordan Majors, that was a monster game,” said Florida Tech head coach Billy Mims in his post-game interview with Paul Van Scott. “That’s the way we always knew he was capable of playing. He had a great night. They have him for five turnovers, but that’s the way it’s gonna be when you play Eckerd. In a game that saw six ties and six lead changes, the Panthers found themselves down 10 points 41-31, with three minutes left. They chipped away, helped by a Majors three to get it to 41-36. Sam Daniel , who led the Panthers with 22 points in Monday’s win , then hit a free-throw to cut it to four, with 49 seconds left in the half. The lead was extended to seven on a fluke play at the end of the half. There was a loose ball...