MELBOURNE, FLA.- following a slow start to the contest, The Florida Tech Panthers managed to pick up their second regular season win of the season on Thursday night by defeating visiting West Alabama in the Panthers home opener by a score of 69-65.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 69, West Alabama 65
Records: Florida Tech (2-4, 0-0 SSC) | West Alabama (1-2, 0-0 Gulf South)
Location: Charles and Ruth Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.
FIRST QUARTER
- West Alabama took the opening points in the game scoring two off a jumper from Kaedre Denson.
- A layup by Kyandra Poitier gave the Panthers their first lead of the game with 5:42 to go before a three by West Alabama's Sydney Schwallie allowed them to go ahead 7-6.
- Florida Tech would find itself trailing by its largest deficit of the game, down 15-8 with 2:07 to go in the first.
- Two made free throws from Sarah Liberatore would cut the Tigers lead to just three before a jumper from Kendall Lacoste of West Alabama would put the Tigers ahead 17-12 going into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
- Tech started the second with two more made free throws by Liberatore to make it a 17-14 ball game with the Tigers ahead by three.
- A layup by Poitier would allow the Panthers to trail by just one with 8:07 to go before the half.
- Off of a defensive rebound by Poitier, a three-pointer from Remingtyn Smith gave the Panthers the lead, ahead 19-17 with 6:40 remaining.
- The Panthers recorded 17 straight points to pull ahead 30-17 with 2:05 left in the second in a big team effort that was highlighted by two three-pointers from Smith.
- The Tigers answered back scoring nine unanswered points themselves to allow tech to record the 30-26 lead entering halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
- Out of the half, Smith continued to score where she put the Panthers ahead by six off a jumper.
- Another small run by Tech allowed them to lead by nine at 39-30 with 6:11 to go in the third.
- In the run, Poitier scored four points off two free throws and a layup.
- Divine Guthrie helped Tech go up 42-34 scoring three straight points from a jumper in the paint and a made free throw.
- With the Crimson and Gray ahead 45-39 with 2:41 to go before the fourth, four more successful free throws, two from Stranger-Johannessen and two from Dalma Ehmann put Tech up 49-39 entering the fourth quarter of play.
FOURTH QUARTER
- The Panthers opened the fourth with two more layups to lead by 14.
- The Tigers slowly edged back into the game, trailing by just seven, now down 54-47. With 5:23 remaining.
- The Panther's largest lead in the final five minutes of play came as they were ahead by 11 at 58-47 following two more made free throws from Smith.
- A put-back offensive rebound by Ehmann allowed Tech to lead 62-54 with just 2:44 to go.
- The Tigers responded scoring seven of the next nine points to trail by just three with 0:44 remaining before the final buzzer.
- The Panthers could hold off the Tigers and convert their free throws when needed, to win the game 69-65.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
- Florida Tech evened up the series against West Alabama and are now 1-1 all-time against the Tigers.
- The Panthers shot 21-54 in field goals with a 38.9% shooting percentage while West Alabama was 20-45 having a 44.4% shooting percentage.
- In three-pointers the Tigers were 8-13 with a 61.5% shooting Percentage beyond the arch while Tech was 2-15 for a 13.3%.
- In free throws, Tech was 25-35 having a 73.5% free throw percentage while West Alabama was 17-24 and 70.8%.
UP NEXT: The Panthers will next hos the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Monday, November 20 at 5:30 P.M. in the Charles and Ruth Clemente Center
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