SAINT LEO, Fla. – Florida Tech fought hard in its Sunshine State Conference Tournament semifinal matchup against Saint Leo but was unable to recover from a double-digit halftime deficit and fell to the Lions 78-68 on Thursday at the Marion Bowman Activities Center. 
 
Mekhii Noble recorded his third double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points on 7-11 shooting and 12 rebounds. Runako Ziegler came off the bench to lead Tech in scoring with 17 points on 7-14 shooting to go along with three assists and two steals. 
 
Nieja Jordan scored a season-high 15 points, including making 7-8 from the free throw line, and had eight rebounds. Sesan Russell tallied 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. 
 
Overall, Florida Tech's bench scored a majority of the team's points and made a major impact on the various stat lines in the game, combining for 38 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and four assists. 
 
"We had great contribution from the bench tonight, had some guys step in and really play well," said head coach Billy Mims. "Our bench did a fantastic job and we actually were controlling the game when they were on the floor.
 
"We received a really big performance from Runako who came off the bench and led us in scoring. Nieja had a great game as well, did a bit of everything for us tonight. Elias Martin gave us strong minutes as well as Trey Schaneville. And Jacob Crockett hit a big three in the second half to cut it to a four-point game. All of those guys were a major reason we came back in the second half and got the game within striking distance." 
 
It was a rough shooting night for the Panthers as they made a season-low 33.8% (25-74) from the field but did convert on 14-18 (77.8%) from the charity stripe. Saint Leo hit on 48.1% (25-52) of its shots in the game and made 60.7% (17-28) of its free throws. 

The major difference in the ball game was Saint Leo's efficiency beyond the arc as the Lions made 11-25 (44%) from three, while the Panthers hit on just 4-25 (14.8%) from deep. 
 
"We just had tired legs tonight against Saint Leo," said Mims. "We had one day rest after playing in a double-overtime game in the quarterfinals Tuesday and I think our guys just ran out of steam tonight. It's tough to turn around and get the same performance when you have players go 40-plus minutes two days earlier, and it showed with our shooting tonight."
 
Tech won the rebounding battle 46-39, including a 15-3 advantage on the offensive glass. The Panthers also finished with less turnovers in the game, 12-8.

Additionally, the Crimson & Gray won the intangible categories, ending the contest with more points off turnovers (15-9), points in the paint (34-22), second chance points (16-3), fast break points (12-11), and bench points (38-20). 
 
"When you look at almost every statistic in the game, we outplayed them," Mims added. "The only thing they did better than us was make shots." 
 
The Panther offense went cold early in the ball game as the Lions ensued on a 17-2 run, turning a two-point game into a 27-10 advantage with 5:40 remaining in the first half. 
 
Noble scored on a layup and Ziegler tallied five straight points, including a fast break three off a steal, to trim the margin to 28-17 with less than four minutes left. A three by Wade Coomer with 49 second to go gave SLU a 33-19 lead heading into halftime. 
 
"We just didn't shoot the ball well at all in the first half, that really hurt us," said Mims. "But as poorly as we did on offense, defensively we played really well and only gave up 33 points by halftime."  
 
The Lions pushed their advantage to a game-high 18 points, 46-28, with 15:38 to go in the second half. Jordan drew a foul on his hook shot from the paint and made the free throw to trim the margin to 15. Noble then hit back-to-back buckets, both off assists from Ziegler, to make it an 11-point game, 46-35, with 12:39 left. 
 
Ziegler made consecutive layups to cut it to single-digits at the 10:55 mark. Schaneville knocked down his only three of the game on the next time down the court to make the score 51-42. 
 
After Jordan converted on another and-1 opportunity, Crockett drained a pull-up three off an assist from Schaneville to decrease the margin to 52-48 with 7:51 remaining. However, the Panther offense began to struggle once again and Saint Leo responded with a 20-7 run, pushing its lead back to 17 points, 72-55, with 3:32 to go. 
 
The Lions held on to their double-digit lead over the waning moments of the ball game, eventually winning by 10 points and advancing to Sunday's SSC Championship game versus Florida Southern. FSC defeated PBA 104-86 in the other semifinal on Thursday. 
 
Florida Tech overcame numerous obstacles to compete during the COVID-19 shortened season. With the loss of only two seniors from the 2020-21 team, the 2021-22 version of the Panther men's basketball team will be rich with talent and experience, and a formidable foe for opponents. 
 
"We came into this game tonight feeling really good about the progress this team made over the most unprecedented season that any coach or player could have experienced," Mims stated. "This season our guys got a free year to develop, gain some experience, learn about each other, the league and the game of college basketball.

"When you look at the guys we have returning to the roster and all the progress they've made this year, it is definitely a bright future ahead for this team."
 
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