MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men's Basketball) – Jordan Majors came just a pair of assists and rebounds short of a triple-double Friday night, sending Florida Tech to a commanding 94-76 win over Bluefield State in the opening round of the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament at the Clemente Center.
 
Majors finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, knocking down 7-of-12 shots from the floor and hitting nine of his 10 free throw opportunities. Majors' backcourt compadre, Patrick Anderson, also had a big game, tallying 16 points and four boards.
 
"Jordan Majors right now is just playing great basketball," said head coach Billy Mims. "He's just making a bunch of plays and it seems like every game he is getting better. What I was really impressed with tonight was his eight assists. Not only did he lead the game in scoring but he also led the game in assists and only committed one turnover."
 
Derek Murphy scored 15 points and cleaned up five rebounds in the game, while Robert Booth dunked his way to a season-high 12 points, while snagging six boards.
 
Josh Windham paced the Blues with 21 points and five rebounds, while Greg Purnell and Marcus Richardson chipped in 16 and 12, respectively.
 
The Panthers lived in the paint, scoring 42 points around the rim, while also turning 12 BSU turnovers into 22 points. In fact, about the only statistic FIT didn't control was shooting from the stripe. The Panthers converted just 18-of-28 opportunities while the Blues drained 19-of-22.
 
After Bluefield State nabbed a 3-2 advantage just over a minute into the game, the Panthers seized control. FIT rattled off seven straight points and scored 20 of the next 23 points to assume a commanding 22-9 lead. The lead ballooned to as much as 24 and at the half FIT controlled a 49-29 advantage.
 
"Our first half of play might have been our best single defensive half of the season," stated Mims. "We held them to 28 percent shooting and if you hold a team to that kind of a shooting performance you put yourself in a position to win the game."
 
FIT got right back to work in the second half, opening the stanza with an 8-to-1 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 27. By then the outcome wasn't in much doubt as a late run by BSU was only enough to bring the deficit to a more respectable 18 points at the final buzzer.
 
The Panthers will battle the Cardinals of William Jewell in the tournament championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The Cardinals advanced to the title game with a 76-58 win over Tuskegee. The Blues and Golden Tigers will duke it out in the consolation game beginning at 3:30 p.m.
 
FloridaTechSports.com/live will have all of the coverage of Saturday's second day of the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament. Paul Van Scott and Jim Mitchell will have the call from the Clemente Center.