MELBOURNE, Fla. – Down two with nine seconds to go on its home court, Florida Tech had a chance at tying or taking the lead late in the game against SSC rival Saint Leo on Wednesday night. However, Valur Valsson's three bounced off the rim and Derek Murphy was unable to get the put-back attempt, and the Panthers fell to the Lions, 81-79, at the Clemente Center.

The result gives Saint Leo the season sweep over the Panthers, while Tech has now dropped five games in a row.

Three Panthers scored in double-figures in the contest, led by Murphy's 36 points and eight rebounds. Sesan Russell tied a season-high with 25 points, while Valsson did a little bit of everything to end the night with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Murphy got the Panthers on the board first on a mid-range jumper just 13 seconds into the game. From there, the Lions outscored Tech, 12-2, and grabbed a 12-4 lead following a pair of free throws by Ty Forman with 14:21 left in the half.

The Crimson & Gray were able to cut the deficit to 17-15 on a fast-break layup by Russell just passed the midway mark of the first half. Five minutes later, a nice spurt by the Lions helped them build their advantage to eight on a pair of free throws by Kyran McClure at the 4:39 mark.

A 10-3 run, capped by a three-point play by Murphy, helped trim the Panthers' margin to just one, 34-33. However, a baseline three by Gintaras Bartaskas with 16 seconds to go in the first half gave the Lions a 41-36 edge just before halftime.  

The back-and-forth play continued in the second half as neither team was able to string together a run to change the tides of the game. The Panthers were able to tie the game at 55-55 following a nice layup by Russell, off an assist from Valsson with 10:39 to go.

Consecutive threes by Murphy and Valsson then launched Tech into the lead with 8:40 remaining. It was the Panthers' first lead since the very early stages of the first half.

Russell helped the Panthers take their largest lead of the game, 74-68, on a fast-break layup with 3:44 remaining. But the Lions answered with an 11-5 run and tied the score up at 79-79 with only 27 seconds to go in the game.

A late turnover by Darius Wright turned out to be a costly one as  McClure drew the foul and made two free throws to give the Lions an 81-79 lead with 16 seconds to go. 

With nine seconds to go, head coach Billy Mims called a timeout to work up a scoring play. The timeout did serve the Panthers well as both Valsson and Murphy got shots off in the final seconds. However, neither was able to connect on their attempts and the Panthers lost to SLU for the third meeting in a row.

Florida Tech had a decent performance from the field, making 23-of-47 (.489) and 9-of-16 (.563) from beyond the arc. SLU made 26-of-59 versus the Panthers, including 10-of-26 (.385) from long range.

Both teams spent significant time at the charity stripe in the contest. Tech went 24-of-32 from the line, while the Lions made 19-of-25 on free throws.

Saint Leo controlled the rebounding battle, 38-25, including a 13-3 disparity on the offensive glass. As a result, the Lions outscored the Panthers, 11-0, in second-chance points. Florida Tech did finish with an edge in points in the paint, 26-20, and fast break points, 10-5.

The men's basketball team is back on the road this Saturday, Feb. 16, as the Panthers travel to Fort Lauderdale to square off with No. 8 Nova Southeastern. The Panthers and Sharks met earlier this season with NSU winning that matchup, 82-62, at the Clemente Center on Jan. 5.

Tip-off between NSU and Florida Tech is set for 4 p.m. at Don Taft University Center.

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