INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Florida Tech 65, Rollins 67
Records: Florida Tech (9-9, 3-10 SSC), Rollins (12-9, 7-6 SSC)
Location: Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST HALF:

• Panthers started off strong as Sean Houpt drained a pair of threes to help Tech go up 10-2 with 17:06 remaining.
• Houpt's fourth three of the game put Tech up 21-12 with 11:48 to go. 
• Consecutive layups by Niall Harris off assists from Josh Mims and Sesan Russell increased the Panthers lead to 25-15 with 8:36 left. 
• Mims and Russell both knocked down shots from deep to grow the Panthers' lead to 34-21 with 4:01 remaining in the half. 
• Tars fought their way back outscoring Tech 12-2 the rest of the half and the Panthers went into halftime leading 36-33.

 
SECOND HALF:

• Harris hit a reverse layup off an assist by Mims to put Tech up 45-33 with 17:00 to go. 
• Over the next 11 minutes, Rollins ensued on a 25-7 run, including scoring 13 straight points, to grab a 58-52 lead with 6:03 left on the clock. 
• Russell knocked down a three with 5:38 to go to cut the margin to 58-55. Another three by Russell made the Panthers' deficit 61-60 with 3:11 remaining. 
• Mate Papai drained a short jumper with 2:05 left to decrease the deficit to 63-62.
• With 36 seconds to go, Russell stole the ball away and finished a contested layup on the other end to cut the margin to 65-64. 
• Tars' Brooks Cluxton hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to go back up 67-64 with 6.4 seconds remaining. 
• Not wanting the Panthers to get off a game-tying three-point attempt, Rollins fouled Russell and put him at the line. Russell made the first free throw and knocked the second one off the rim but the Tars collected the rebound as the clock expired.  
   

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Sean Houpt led all players in the game with 17 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds on 6-12 shooting including 5-10 beyond the arc
• Sesan Russell finished with 14 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks on 5-15 shooting including 3-12 from three
• Niall Harris recorded his third straight double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals on 6-14 shooting
• Mate Papai tallied his second career double-double on 12 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists on 5-8 shooting.
• Josh Mims made his first collegiate start and finished with 7 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds on 2-6 from beyond the arc.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech shot 44.8% (25-56) from the field, 32.3% (10-31) beyond the arc and 50% (5-10) on free throws.
• Rollins made 41.0% (25-61) of its shots in the game, 27.3% (6-22) from three and 11-11 from the charity stripe.
• Panthers won the rebounding battle 36-31.
• Tech finished with an edge in second chance points (14-13) and fastbreak points (5-2).
• Tars led in points off turnovers (14-10), bench points (11-2) and points in the paint (30-22).

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Rollins improves to 68-32 all-time versus Florida Tech

UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on the road at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ICI Center. 
 
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