ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Men's Basketball) – Behind 20 second half points from Jordan Majors, Florida Tech outscored Eckerd 49-40 in the final 20 minutes Wednesday, overtaking the Tritons in the second half on the way to a 86-84 victory in the Panthers' Sunshine State Conference opener.
 
Majors finished the game with 35 points, nailing 11-of-18 shots, including a 10-for-14 effort from behind the charity stripe. Sam Daniel and Patrick Anderson dropped in 19 and 18 points, respectively, while Robert Booth collected a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Overall, the Panthers shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 52.0 percent from three-point range. Those numbers compared to just 44.6 percent and 43.8 percent, respectively, from the Tritons.
 
EC largely dominated the opening half, building as much as a 10 point lead late in the stanza. The Panthers narrowed the gap with a 6-0 run but Kevin Walsh drilled a three at the buzzer to extend the Eckerd lead to 44-37 at the half.
 
The Tritons got off to a hot start in the second half, ballooning the lead to as much as 15 points. However, FIT went on a 12-0 run capped by an Antonis Pefanis tre ball with 9:30 left in the game. After an Eckerd free throw, Daniel hit a three of his own to tie the game and Majors followed with a free throw to give FIT its first lead of the half.
 
The Panthers never looked back, taking control of the game and holding off a furious late attempt by the Tritons. The win improves FIT's record to 2-2, opening SSC play with a 1-0 record.
 
The Panthers are back in action on Saturday, hosting the Buccaneers of Barry on Saturday at the Clemente Center at 7:30 p.m. ET. Jim Mitchell and Paul Van Scott will have the call, with live coverage available at FloridaTechSports.com/live.