MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Tech men's basketball team is set to host the 8th Annual Thanksgiving Classic this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24-25, at the Clemente Center.

The Panthers welcome North Greenville, Puerto Rico-Bayamon and Union to Melbourne for this year's edition of the tournament. The Crimson & Gray are the three-time defending champions of the Thanksgiving Classic, defeating William Jewell last season, 98-83.

"We're looking forward to what should be another outstanding Thanksgiving Classic," stated head coach Billy Mims. "Each year, it's the best holiday hoops tournament on the Space Coast for NCAA Basketball fans! We will be joined by three good, well coached NCAA Division II teams.

"I'm so happy that our friends from Puerto Rico are here, especially with all they have been through after the major hurricanes, Irma and Maria, which came through down there earlier this year. These games will definitely help prepare us for our tough upcoming Sunshine State Conference games."

The opening game of the classic features the matchup between NGU and Union on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. FIT squares off with UPRB in the second game at 5:30 p.m. The losing teams on Friday will compete in the third place game on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the winners will meet in the championship game at 5:30 p.m.

UPRB is 0-1 this season after falling to Rollins College, 99-88, on Tuesday evening in Winter Park. North Greenville owns a 3-2 record, while UU is 3-1.  

Florida Tech is coming off a blowout win over Johnson & Wales, 107-67, on Tuesday at the Clemente Center. It was the Panthers' first victory of the season.

Two Panthers are averaging double-digit points this season. Senior Sam Daniel leads the SSC in scoring this season at 28.0 points per game to go along with 7.8 rebounds per game, seventh most in the league. Fellow senior Jordan Majors is eighth in the SSC with 19.4 points per game. Junior Richard Coil ranks third in the conference at 10.2 rebounds per game, while sophomore Valur Valsson leads the SSC in total assists (38) and assists per game (7.6).

Live video and stats will be available for all four games of the 2017 Thanksgiving Classic. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.