Sports Lowdown

Sam Daniel - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish put a damper on Florida Tech’s Senior Day Saturday, beating the Panthers 80-76 in the regular season finale for both teams. Sam Daniel led the home team with 25 points, but FIT couldn’t overcome a sluggish second half that saw them get outscored 47-36. “In the second half, they forced us into a lot of turnovers,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims. “We were real sloppy and they pressed us, turned it into a full-court game and we didn’t take advantage of the pressure.” To Mims point, his team turned it over 13 times in the second half, while only forcing eight. Senior Robert Booth finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Patrick Anderson chipped in 13 and Jordan Majors had 10. The game was even for much of the first half, before the Panthers before Anderson and Majors hit consecutive threes to get Florida Tech a 31-20 lead. After Dakota Zinser hit one for PBA, senior Raf...

Derek Murphy - Credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers got a big win on Wednesday, with a 105-90 triumph over the Tampa Spartans at the Clemente Center. The team was in a must-win situation, as they try to claw their way into the Sunshine State Conference tournament next week and they got the job done, with six players scoring in double figures. Derek Murphy scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Panthers. He was 8-for-9 from the field and hit all eight of his free-throws. Just for good measure he had six rebounds and one steal.  “Every game he seems to get better and this was the best game of his career,” said Panthers coach Billy Mims. “He’s a sophomore who’s really coming into his own.” Jordan Majors had 22, Patrick Anderson added a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists. He was 6-for-9 from the floor and hit all four of his shots behind the arc. Sam Daniel scored 17 points and Rafael Casanova and Robert Booth chipped in with 1...

Sam Daniel - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers won their second straight game Saturday, getting a 102-97 victory over the Embry-Riddle Eagles. The victory completes the season sweep for the Panthers, who beat the Eagles in Melbourne back on January 4 on a Sam Daniel buzzer-beater . With the Eagles being a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference this season, the victory does not help Florida Tech in the standings, but it should give them momentum heading into the last two games of the season, both at home. All five Florida Tech starters finished in double figures, led by 25 from Sam Daniel . Jordan Majors had 19, Patrick Anderson 18, Derek Murphy 16 and Rafael Casanova 15. Daniel had about 20 family members in the crowd on Saturday, per head coach Billy Mims, who talked to Jim Mitchell at the conclusion of the game. It was a good night for the Daniel family to make the trip. The Panthers (14-12, 6-10 SSC) led for o...

Sam Daniel - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography  The Florida Tech Panthers had six players in double figures Wednesday, storming back from a 42-36 halftime deficit to take down the Lynn Fighting Knights, 97-89 at the Clemente Center. “This was like a playoff game,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims. “If we wanna play beyond next week, we needed this win.” Sam Daniel led the charge for the Panthers, scoring 27 points. Rafael Casanova scored 20, Derek Murphy 17, Jordan Majors 13 and Robert Booth rounded out the scoring with 11. Michael Milligan started and played eight minutes, but he did not score. Things looked bleak for the Panthers as the game got underway. The Fighting Knights went on a 10-0 run to start and the Panthers were missing both their inside and outside shots, getting nothing to fall. “I think we spotted them the first six minutes and 10 points,” said Mims, who was issued a warning during that early stretch, for jawing at the offici...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Wednesday was a night the Florida Tech Panthers men’s basketball team would like to forget. The Barry Buccaneers put on a clinic from beyond the arc, going 19-for-38 for the game and outgunning the Panthers 103-78. The win improved Barry's home record to 12-0. Last week Florida Tech coach Billy Mims said Barry would be their toughest game of the season and he was correct. The Buccaneers were number one in the region and the number one ranked team in the Sunshine State Conference, going into Wednesday’s game and by the end, they left no doubt. At one point in the contest, the with the Buccaneers up 65-39, Barry had 36 points just on three-pointers, while the Panthers had scored 39 for the game. “They have a lot of great shooters and got looks that other people wouldn’t make against us,” said Mims, in his post-game interview with Jerry Durney. “They looked like the Golden State Warriors. At one point, I thought Steph Curry and K...