DAYTONA, Fla. (Men's Basketball) - FIT sneaks away with a win over Embry-Riddle University 102-97 on Saturday night at the ICI Center. The Panthers outscored the Eagles by 15 points in the first half and hit 57.9 percent from the field to advance to 14-12 overall. Five Panthers hosted outstanding performances offensively by posting in double digit scoring for an accumulation of 93 total points.
On the evening,
Sam Daniel led all panthers in buckets with a recorded 25 points coupled with 7 boards, one block, two steals and two assists.
Jordan Majors was credited with 19 points while grabbing five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Behind both players was junior guard
Patrick Anderson with a total of 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal. Also, aiding in offensive efforts was
Derek Murphy with 16 and
Rafael Casanova with 15 for the night.
Off to a strong start, FIT held the lead 15:36 minutes in the first half with leads up to 17 points. The Panthers entered the half with a comfortable gap but the Eagles did not retire early. Back on the hardwood during the second, FIT climbed to an 18 point lead but Embry-Riddle found it's groove and managed to shorten the margin to 10. Both teams exchanged points evenly throughout, however, the Eagles could not catch a large enough run to bring them within reach.
In the remainder of the second half, with the clock at 20 seconds, the Eagles scored on a layup which brought the deficit to six. After a scored free throw by
Jordan Majors, the blue and yellow, hit a dagger from behind the arc which brought the score to 101-97 with 11 seconds left. With the Panthers in possession of the ball,
Robert Booth was sent to the line where he drained his first shot from the line. After a missed second shot and a defensive rebound be Skyler Hogan, ERU tried to push the ball up the court for a final shot but came up short on the attempt.
Next up, FIT heads back home to the Clemente Center for a SSC match against Tampa University. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET! Fans, visit FloridaTechSports.com/live to check out your Panthers in action this Wednesday Feb 22.
