Sports Lowdown

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...

The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team made a late run at a comeback Wednesday against Rollins, but ultimately the Tars hung on for a 72-67 Sunshine State Conference win. “It comes down to Rollins wanted that game more than we did,” said Panthers head coach John Reynolds. “I’m thinking that and it hurts me to say something like that, but you can’t come out in a conference game and go 3-for-14 on three’s.” Florida Tech (5-2, 1-2 SSC) led 14-11 after one quarter, The Panthers were within a point at 27-26, but a six-point run by Rollins late in the second helped them outscore the Panthers 25-14 in the quarter and go to the locker room with a 36-28 advantage. The visitors were 5-of-13 beyond the arc in that first half, while the Panthers went 0-for-8. Shequana Harris had eight points and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes, to pace the Panthers. “I think she played as hard and as good as she could,” said Reynolds of Harris. Marie Gilbert gave the Tars a 42-33 adv...

The Florida Tech women’s soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss to Rollins on Saturday, in a Sunshine State Conference showdown. The loss was the third straight for the Panthers and they are significant, because they are all in conference. The hometown Tars were ranked sixth in the country coming in, and they got all they could handle from Florida Tech and goaltender Karlyn Prisco , who came up with eight saves. She was matched by the play of Rollins goaltender Kelly Roswell, who had nine. The teams played through a scoreless first half with Roswell having to make five saves. Maria Munoz got a shot off with just 54 seconds gone and Prisco made her first save in the 13 th minute.  Aubri Williamson and Keira McCarthy both got shots off about one minute apart for the Panthers at the halfway mark of the first half, but Roswell was able to keep them out of the net. Ciera Misner was awarded a penalty kick with about 20 minutes left in the contest, but Roswell guessed ri...

The Florida Tech Men’s Soccer team came away with a big 1-0 win over 22 nd ranked Rollins on Saturday at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne. The win moved the Panthers to 5-0-1 overall and 3-0 in the Sunshine State Conference. Adin Kavara came up with the decisive strike 64:52 into the game, when he headed it past Tars starting goaltender Drew Trautmann. It was not an easy victory by any means, as Rollins controlled play for much of the first half, taking 10 shots and forcing FIT goalie Christian Moerch to make four saves. The Panthers took three shots in that first half, all of them had to be saved by Trautmann. Moerch barely had a chance to get comfortable between the pipes, as he made his first save 14 seconds into the game. Rollins had another shot go off the post at the 11:56 mark. Sam Sawyer and Kavara took a couple early shots, with Kavara getting one in the eighth minute and in the 10 th minute. In the second half, the Tars had a couple early chances, before...

The Florida Tech Volleyball team opened their Sunshine State Conference opener at the Clemente Center on Friday, falling to the Rollins Tars, 3-2. The match kept a couple streaks intact, as Rollins won their seventh straight, while the Panthers suffered their seventh straight loss. The two teams traded wins in the first four games, with Rollins taking game one and three by identical 25-16 scores. The Panthers took game two 30-28 and game four 25-22, before dropping the fifth set, 15-12. Rollins opened a 17-8 lead in the first game with a couple extended runs and the Panthers never recovered. The second game was a typical back-and-forth affair, with the Panthers leading 13-12, before Rollins won the next four points, to take the lead. The Panthers regained the lead with a run of six out of eight points, to regain the lead 25-24. They traded points with the Tars, before winning the final two points and squeaking out the 30-28 victory. Rollins (7-2, 1-0) took control of ...