MELBOURNE, Fla. - After losing on the road to the Tars early this season, Florida Tech (9-9, SSC 6-6) had its way with Rollins (10-8, SSC 5-7) after imposing a dominant, 64-43 win over the Winter Park squad on Wednesday night at the Clemente Center. 

After topping the Tars, 73-70 during the Quarterfinals of the 2017 SSC Tournament, Florida Tech opened the 2018 conference schedule with an unfortunate loss to Rollins at Warden Arena. However, the Panthers made an impressive statement this evening after shooting 39.3 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from downtown.

However, what was more impressive was the Panthers 25-11 edge over the Tars in bench points, which marks the fourth consecutive game that FIT topped its opponents in the category. Further making a statement at the glass, the Crimson and Gray won the battle of the boards with a 39-24 advantage, while amassing 10 assists, two blocks and seven steals.

Pairing 15 points apiece, senior DeLise Williams and junior Gracie Doane led the Panthers offense to combine for 30 of the 64 points scored during the contest. Additionally, Williams tallied a team-best nine boards, and Doane ended the mid-week outing after shooting 5-for-10 from behind the arc. 

Also chipping in, Junior Tereza Sedlakova drained nine points for the Crimson and Gray, and pulled down eight rebounds, while teammates Aniquah Swan and Kailyn Ebb added six points each to the Panthers total.

Starting the game off with dominance, the Melbourne lineup closed the first period moving past Rollins by double-digits, 17-7. In the following stanza, the Tars battled back to close the gap within a single-digit margin, however FIT quickly roared back before heading into the locker room up by 13.                                                                                                    

Returning from halftime, Florida Tech left no room for a Rollins comeback, holding the Tars offense to 27.3 percent shooting in the second half. The Panthers forced 11 Rollins turnovers, which transitioned into 12 points, nine of which came in the third period. In the final stanza, the Panthers knocked down a game-high 13 points from the bench to cap off the evening, 64-43.

Next up, FIT will travel to Boca Raton to face the Lynn Fighting Knights on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m. ET.

For more info and live coverage of the event, please visit FloridaTechSports.com!