MELBOURNE, Fla. - On Senior Night, Florida Tech hosted Lynn. All five starters for the Panthers were in double figures as Tech cruised to a 100-77 victory over the Fighting Knights.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 100, Lynn 77
Records: Florida Tech (17-10, 10-9 SSC), Lynn (4-21, 2-18 SSC)
Location: Charles and Ruth Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.
FIRST HALF:
- On his Senior Night, Sesan Russell started hot from the floor with two early 3-pointers to give Tech a 7-4 advantage.
- Sean Houpt knocked down a triple then scored while getting fouled on the next posession to give the Panthers a 15-6 lead.
- A one-handed dunk from Sam Grant pushed Tech's lead to double-digits at 22-12 with 10:53 left in the first half.
- Mekhii Noble threw down a dunk of his own to give the Panthers a 33-21 advantage.
- Russell drilled another 3-pointer, his fifth of the half to give the Panthers a 39-23 lead.
- A breakaway dunk from Niall Harris with 27 seconds remaining capped off an efficient first half on the offensive end as Tech went into the locker room with a 48-33 lead.
SECOND HALF:
- The Fighting Knights made five of their first seven shots to cut the Tech lead to 55-45.
- A 6-0 run capped off by a fast break dunk by Elias Martin gave the Panther a 61-45 lead.
- Back-to-back dunks by Martin and Noble put Tech's lead to 68-51 with 11:32 remaining.
- Harris drilled a open 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 77-58 advantage.
- A 7-0 run from Houpt himself pushed Tech's lead to 89-63.
- An alley-oop from Houpt that found Noble gave the Panthers a 96-70 lead.
- Theo Klimanoglou and Donovan Murphy each made a free throw in the final minute to give the Panthers 100 points on the night.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
- Russell scored 21 points and dished out a career-high 16 assists for a double-double. The senior also brought down seven rebounds.
- Houpt had a game-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
- Harris also had a double-double for the Panthers with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
- Noble was efficient inside with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting. The graduate student also gathered six rebounds.
- Martin was the final Panther in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The Panthers shot 56% (41-73) from the field and 37.9% (11-29) from 3-point range. Lynn was 43.1% (28-65) shooting and 15.8% (3-19) from behind the arc.
- At the free throw line, Tech was 53.8% (7-13). Lynn shot 78.3% (18-23) from the line.
- On the glass, the Panthers outrebounded the Fighting Knights 44-27.
- Florida Tech had 31 assists while Lynn had 23.
- The Panthers had 60 points in the paint.
- 17 wins is Tech's highest win total since 2011-12.
- Florida Tech moves to 25-38 all-time against Lynn.
Coach Billy Mims postgame show presented by Health First
UP NEXT: Florida Tech goes on the road to Tampa on Saturday, Feb. 25 for its final regular season game of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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