MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Basketball) – Florida Tech (16-5, 8-4 SSC) connected on 13-of-26 from the three-point line in its 64-61 win over Nova Southeastern (9-12, 4-8 SSC) Wednesday night at the Clemente Center. Since Eckerd defeated Florida Southern and Rollins was idle Wednesday, the Panthers have sole possession of second place in the Sunshine State Conference.

Julius Reid steered his team to victory, scoring a season-high 24 points on 7-of-15 from the field, 6-of-12 from the arc and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. He also had four rebounds, one assist and three steals, while playing all 40 minutes.

“Tonight, we were very, very fortunate,” head coach Billy Mims said. “They manhandled us if you look at the points in the paint. They beat us 24-12 and their post players were dominant. There’s an old adage in basketball – sometimes you live by the J and other times you die by the J. We lived by the J tonight and that J was two-fold, three-point jump shots and Julius Reid. We hit 50 percent of our threes and Julius hit 6-of-12.

“We have the best sixth man in the Sunshine State Conference. Florida Tech’s crowd is by far the best home crowd in this league. When our crowd gets into it, they rev our guys up and that’s what helps us make shots.”  

With the crowd on its feet, Reid hit a tear drop on the right side of the basket near the baseline to put his team up 63-61 with 31 seconds remaining. After FIT and Nova Southeastern exchanged timeouts, the fans began to chant F-I-T as the Sharks inbounded the ball. Teddy Tassy tried to give his team a one-point lead by firing up a three-pointer, but his shot was off the mark.

Robert Huntington rebounded Tassy’s missed shot, but Reid quickly stole the ball and was fouled. He would hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line with nine seconds left to close out the win.

The Sharks outrebounded the Panthers 43-30. Leading all players in rebounds was Nova Southeastern’s Shaun Pratl with 11.

In his first start of the season, Anthony Jackson scored 15 points with six rebounds, one assist, two blocks and three steals. Nine of his points came from behind the arc, including his third and final trey, which gave the Panthers a 61-53 lead with 3:20 to play.

Lynn will travel to the Clemente Center Saturday for a conference match-up against FIT. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Live video, audio and stats will be available through the Panthers’ GameCentral portal at FloridaTechSports.com.