MELBOURNE, FLA. - Coming off a road SSC game the day before, Florida Tech welcomed Thomas University of the Sun Conference to the Clemente Center. The Panthers had no hangover defeating the Night Hawks 84-72.  

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:  
Final: Florida Tech 84, Thomas 72 
Records: Florida Tech (8-1 3-0 SSC), Thomas (8-2, 4-0 SC) 
Location: Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.  

 
FIRST HALF:  

• Sean Houpt, Sam Grant and Sesan Russell each made a 3-pointer in the opening two minutes to take an early 9-3 lead.  
• Niall Harris joined the 3-pointer fun with a triple from the corner to give Tech a 20-10 lead with 14:30 left.  
• A 10-0 run from the Night Hawks tied the game up at 25, but the Panthers immediately responded with a 7-0 run to take back the lead. 
• Darragh O'Sullivan pushed the lead back to double-digits at 39-29 with a contested lay in. 
• Thomas scored on back-to-back possessions to end the half, including a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to cut the lead to 44-40 at halftime.  
• The Panthers made seven threes and had 25 rebounds while Thomas had 15. 

SECOND HALF:  

• Thomas scored the first four points of the half to tie the game for the first time since midway through the first half.  
• An 8-0 run, capped off by buckets on back-to-back possessions from Houpt gave Tech its lead back at 52-44. 
• Keon Williams for the Night Hawks kept his team in the game with two deep 3-pointers to cut the Panthers lead to 61-54 with 12:49 remaining.  
• Both teams went back and forth with Tech holding a 67-61 lead with eight minutes left in the game. 
• A three from Russell and a put back from Elias Martin pushed the Tech lead back to double-digits at 72-61. 
• The Night Hawks cut the lead back to five points, but a 11-0 run killed the game away for the Panthers.  

NOTABLE PANTHERS:  

• Russell was a workhorse all-game scoring a career-high 37 points for the Panthers. He was 11-of-21 from the field and a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. The senior also had eight rebounds and five assists. 
• Houpt dropped 16 points for Florida Tech on 6-of-12 shooting. 
• Harris had the only double-double of the game with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: 

• The Panthers shot 44.4% from the field (28-63) and 32% (8-25) from three. Thomas was 41.4% shooting (29-70) and 32.3% (10-31) from behind the arc.  
• Tech had a strong advantage at the free throw line shooting 71.4% (20-28) while Thomas shot 57.1% (4-7) from the charity stripe.  
• As it did a night earlier against Lynn, Florida Tech dominated the glass by winning the rebound battle 49-29. 
• The Panthers had 18 second-chance points and the Night Hawks had just four. 
• Florida Tech had five blocks on the night. 
• Florida Tech is now 2-0 against Thomas in the all-time series. 

COACHES CORNER: 

"Thomas is a really good basketball team and we knew it was going to be a difficult challenge today because we have had a tough week with two hard-fought SSC games against a very good Tampa program at home and a young and energetic Lynn on the road yesterday in Boca Raton where we had to travel back last night," said head coach Billy Mims. "A lot of our key players had played big minutes in both games this week, so it was always going to be a challenge against a team on a seven-game winning streak that sits in first place in one of the best conferences in NAIA." 

"I felt that out players felt a bit mentally and physically tired from last night's trip but saying that we dug down deep and in the second half defended like we have all year and that's why we are where we are," Mims said. "I was really proud that after a 44-40 first half that felt like it was a bad pickup game at times, we executed in the second half very well shooting 48% from the floor. Defensively in the second half we held Thomas to 36% shooting and 17% behind the arc." 

"Rebounding today was a huge key to our success as we dominated the boards 49-29," Mims said. "A big part of that was Niall Harris with a huge double-double with a game-high 16 rebounds and 14 points. I thought rebounding was the big difference in the basketball game." 

"Sean Houpt had another great game with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, three assists and two steals," Mims said. "That being said, player of the game went to Sesan Russell with 37 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Down the stretch Sesan made plays and made free throws to seal the victory for us." 

UP NEXT: Florida Tech will return to conference play with a home game on December 10th against Florida Southern. Tip-off from the Clemente Center is set for 4 p.m.  

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