MELBOURNE, Fla. – In what was one of the craziest games to take place at the Clemente Center in some time, the Florida Tech men's basketball team (2-3) came away with a 79-75 victory over Florida Southern (3-4) on Wednesday. 
 
It was a wild contest that featured major runs by both teams and some late-game heroics by the Panthers to earn the win. The Mocs scored 19 unanswered points to jump ahead by 17 in the first half. The Panthers responded with a 34-5 run to take a 12-point lead into halftime. Florida Southern then mounted a 27-3 run to regain a 70-69 edge with just over four minutes to go but Florida Tech was able to hang in there and garner its second victory of the season.
 
Sesan Russell paced the Crimson & Gray with a double-double on 21 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and four steals while playing all 40 minutes. He was one assist away from his first career triple-double.  
 
Trey Schaneville had an impressive game off the bench, finishing with 16 points on 5-10 shooting from beyond the arc to go along with three steals, two rebounds and two assists. Niall Harris recorded 12 points and three rebounds while Runako Ziegler tallied 11 points on 5-8 shooting. 
 
Mate Papai was a force on the inside for the Panthers, collecting nine points on 4-5 shooting, eight rebounds, a game-high three blocks and two steals. 
 
"Mate played a tremendous game tonight, probably the best performance of his entire career," said head coach Billy Mims. "He had four offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds, just a solid basketball game. He was our defensive anchor tonight, did an amazing job shutting down Florida Southern's attacking of the basket.
 
"The last couple of ball games, Mate has solidified himself as an incredible interior post defender for us."
 
E.J. Dambreville led Florida Southern with 22 points and 18 rebounds while Jalyn Hinton finished with 19 points. Xavier Rhodes added 17 points and seven assists for the Mocs. 
 
The Panthers shot 43% (28-65) from the field and 40% (10-25) from three but struggled at the free throw line, making just 13-24 (54.2%). FSC ended the contest at 42% (27-64) shooting, including 33% (8-24) beyond the arc, and made 76% (13-17) of its free throw attempts. Florida Southern won the rebounding battle 33-27. 
 
It was a back-and-forth game early on. Russell hit a turnaround jump shot in the paint to put Tech up 14-10 with 15:14 to go in the first half. The Mocs tied the game at 14 on consecutive buckets by Rhodes but Sean Houpt put back his own missed layup to give the Panthers a 16-14 edge with 13:28 left.
 
At that point, Florida Tech went cold from the field and did not make a shot for over five minutes as FSC scored 19 unanswered points to grab a 33-16 advantage with 8:02 remaining before halftime. 
 
Following a 30-second timeout by Mims, Schaneville hit a three off an assist from Russell to spark a 7-0 run for Tech that cut the deficit to 33-26 with 6:05 to go. The barrage continued for the Panthers as they made four more from beyond the arc in the first half, three of those by Schaneville, and Ziegler hit a number of acrobatic, contested layups. 
 
Tech was able to close the half shooting 15-19 from the field and outscored the Mocs 34-5 over the final eight minutes to take a 50-38 advantage into halftime. 
 
"Trey had a major impact for us in the first half," said Mims. "Schaneville came off the bench to knock down four big threes for us, Runako Ziegler made four tough layups and those guys combined for 20 points in the first half. They helped us go from a 17-point deficit to a 12-point lead at halftime, that's a 29-point turnaround thanks to those guys."
 
Tech continued to fire on all cylinders early in the second half. The Panthers grew their lead to as much as 23 points, 66-43, following a three-pointer by Schaneville with 11:12 remaining. 
 
It looked as though Florida Tech would be cruising to its second straight win until Florida Southern suddenly took over momentum in the game. The Mocs mounted another massive run, this time outscoring the Panthers 27-3 over the next 6:48 of game time to corral their first lead in a while, 70-69, on a three by Dambreville. 
 
Russell was able to give Tech back the lead, 71-70, after making a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession with just over four minutes to go. Papai put-back a missed jumper by Russell and Nieja Jordan hit his only shot of the game to hand the Panthers a 75-70 edge with 1:27 left on the clock. 
 
FSC trimmed the margin to just one following two free throws by Rhodes with 32 seconds remaining. The Mocs had a chance to take the lead with less than 20 seconds to go but Papai came up with a huge block allowing Harris to grab the loose ball and draw a foul. 
 
However, Harris missed both of his attempts at the line giving Florida Southern another opportunity to win the game in the final seconds. With time waning down, Rhodes got off a contested layup that bounced off the rim and Papai secured the rebound, passing it to Russell who drew a foul with two seconds to go. 
 
Russell made his first attempt to put Tech ahead 77-75. He missed the second try, but Harris was there to pull down the much-needed rebound and was fouled. Harris made both of his free throws to give the Panthers a four-point lead and the win. 
 
"We call Harris "Sneaky Niall", and he came up with a huge play for us with that rebound and was fouled to go to the line," Mims added. "He ultimately sealed the game for us tonight."
 
With its second consecutive win under the belt, Florida Tech will look to close out the regular season with one more when Tampa comes to town on Saturday for a Senior Day game at the Clemente Center. Tip-off between the Panthers and Spartans is set for 2 p.m.
 
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech men's basketball team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.