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 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...

The Saint Leo Lions had an amazing shooting night on Saturday, beating the Florida Tech Panthers 97-76 in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s basketball clash. Saint Leo had five guys in double figures, led by Antoine Tobias, who dropped in 26. Marcus Dewberry recorded a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, Justin Satchell and Tyreece Brice had 15 and Junior Searcy added 11. Sam Daniel led the Panthers with 19, Jordan Majors had 14, Patrick Anderson 12 and Robert Booth added 10. The Lions (12-12, 6-8 SSC) got off to one of the hottest starts you will ever see in a basketball game, but Majors hit a couple three’s early, keeping the Panthers in it, 17-13. It wasn’t close for long, as the Lions hit 6-of-8 from three and Tobias had 11 points, many of those assisted by Dewberry, who had seven with 7:32 left in the half. They extended their lead to 42-31 with 4:01 left and extended their lead to 52-35 at the half. The home team was 20-of-27 from ...

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...

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 an...

Sam Daniel (0) and Jordan Majors combined for 68 points on Wednesday In one of the most exciting finishes you will see, Sam Daniel hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer Wednesday night, giving the Florida Tech Panthers a heart stopping 109-106 victory over Sunshine State Conference foe Embry-Riddle. Jordan Majors was the man with the ball in his hands as the read 4.7 seconds. He was going to the hoop, but the Eagles sealed it off and Majors found Daniel open and got it to him. Daniel beat the clock and the Eagles, with the biggest shot of his career. “Jordan driving down the court and I credit him for being focused enough to see me open and it was ballgame from there,” said Daniel after the game. “Coach tells us if you feel like you’re open take the shot. Him giving us that green light builds everyone’s confidence, it’s good to know that you have that green light and you’re not gonna be faulted, if you do take the shot.” “This is my 13 th season here and I don...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography It was a tough day at the office for the Florida Tech Panthers on Saturday, as they dropped a 101-49 decision to Division I power Florida Gulf Coast, in Fort Myers. This was essentially an exhibition for the Panthers, who were coming off a tough overtime loss at Lynn on Friday night and didn’t even arrive at their hotel until 1:30 Saturday morning. Panthers coach Billy Mims didn’t use the late arrival as an excuse and his team certainly didn’t play tired to start the game. They came out on a 1-0 run, with Patrick Anderson and Sam Daniel knocking down a couple early three-pointers. “We opened up man-to-man, toe-to-toe with them we played good D and I thought we executed well,” Mims said. The Panthers went up 12-4 with 4:35 gone in the half and the Eagles fought back, to take a 16-15 lead. They stretched it to 20-15 with 11:25 to go and Daniel cut it back to two, with another three-point bucket. Robert Booth got the Panthers ...

Sam Daniel scored 32 points in the Panthers win on Monday Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Sam Daniel and Robert Booth led the charge Monday night, as the Florida Tech Panthers scored 65 second half points, en route to a 99-77 victory over the Point Skyhawks in the final game of the Florida Tech Winter Classic. Daniel finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Booth scored a career-high 20 and pulled down 11. It was his third double-double of the season. The final score is not indicative of how close this game was in the first half, as the Panthers struggled to get anything going. Joshua Tolbert gave the visitors a spark when he went on an individual 8-0 run with 15:39 left in the half, turning an 11-9 Panthers lead into a 17-11 deficit. Daniel hit a three with 14:18 left in the half, to stop the Tolbert show. The Skyhawks went on a bit of a run again, going up 23-16 at one point and still led by seven with just over 10 minutes to go in the half. consecut...

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...

Sam Daniel and Jordan Majors combined for 54 points Wednesday, helping the Florida Tech Panthers beat Rollins 90-75, in a Sunshine State Conference game at the Clemente Center. Daniel ended the night with game highs in points, 30 and rebounds with 16. Majors went for 24. “Everybody knows Sam can score, but he had maybe a career high in rebounds,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims. Rollins (5-2, 1-1 SSC) went on an 8-0 run after Majors hit two free-throws to start the game. Patrick Anderson’s three got the Panthers to within three, 8-5 and Anderson hot another three at the 14:36 mark to put the Panthers up a deuce, 10-8. The Tars went on another run, running their lead up to 19-12 before Rafael Casanova and Daniel hit threes, tying the game at 19. Casanova would leave the game with 5:48 left in the half, after going down in the lane. He sprained his ankle and did not return. The Panthers (6-3, 2-1 SSC) kept the momentum going through the rest of the first half...

Florida Tech got 29 points from Sam Daniel and 27 points from Jordan Majors on Saturday, carrying the Panthers to a 98-83 victory over William Jewell in the championship game of the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament. Patrick Anderson had 17 points and 13 assists and Robert Booth had a double-double as well, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He, Daniel and Majors all landed on the All-Tournament team. William Jewell, who beat Tuskegee 76-58 in Friday’s tournament opener, came to play, as it was raining threes early in the contest on both sides. The Panthers jumped out to an 11-6 lead and the Cardinals would come back with an answer. The game was tied a few times early in the first half. ”They’re a really good basketball team,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims, of William Jewell. “They’ve got some really good players on that team.” The stat of the night in this one was the points off turnovers. The Cardinals turned it over 16 times and the Panthers earned 27 p...

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 16 th ranked Barry Buccaneers handed the Florida Tech Men’s basketball team a sound defeat on Saturday night, 96-84 at the Clemente Center in Melbourne. The Buccaneers (3-0, 2-0 SSC) shot 47.1 percent from behind the arc in the first half, hitting eight of their 17 shots. In the second half, they were only three of 13, but the barrage in the first half was enough to give them the cushion they needed. The Panthers (2-3, 1-1 SSC) went down early in the first half, 12-4, but a three-pointer by Jordan Majors and a dunk by Robert Booth , quickly closed the gap to 12-9. Majors was fouled and hit both shots, closing the gap to one, before Barry widened things again, with a five-point run. The Panthers would get within one a couple more times in the half, but Barry pulled away in the last five minutes of the first half. With 36.4 seconds left, Florida Tech coach Billy Mims was issued two technical fouls after arguing a foul that was given to the wrong player initially....

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...