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BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – The Florida Tech men’s basketball team powered its way to a 70-47 victory over UPR-Bayamon in its opening game of the PBA Thanksgiving Classic on Friday afternoon.
FIRST HALF:
Niall Harris scored the first points of the game with a layup on the Panthers’ opening possession. Sebastian Santiago answered with a three-point jumper for Bayamon which started a quick 7-0 run for the Cowboys to make it 7-2 at the 17:45 mark of the first half.
Tech responded with a 15-2 run to retake the lead, 17-9, heading into the second media timeout of the half. During the run, Chase Thompson scored eight of the 15 points for the Panthers.
The offense kept rolling for Tech out of the timeout. Elias Martin made a tough driving layup and on the next Panthers possession, Thompson knocked down the first triple of the game for Tech to make it 22-9 with 10:02 left in the half.
The Cowboys stifled the run with a trey from Victor Carrillo to make it 25-12 just before the third media timeout.
A layup by Max Polk sparked another run for the Panthers. During the 10-3 run, Rahsaan Edwards scored two baskets and assisted on two others to make it 35-15 with 3:21 remaining in the first half.
The Panthers continued to dominate on both sides of the ball. Tech closed out the first half on an 8-2 run to head into halftime with a 43-17 lead. Max Polk scored six of the last eight points on 3-for-3 shooting.
SECOND HALF:
Both teams traded baskets to begin the second half. A basket for Bayamon at the 17:35 mark by Marcos Velez made it 49-25 and capped an 8-6 effort for the Cowboys to start the half and force the Panthers to take an early timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, a Harris layup and a driving dunk by David McCullough sparked an 8-0 to put Tech up 57-25 with 14:35 remaining in the game.
Bayamon did not back down as they went on a run of their own, 14-4 over the next six minutes to cut into the Panthers’ lead and make it 61-39 with 7:22 left on the clock.
The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and after a fast-break layup from Edwards, the Panthers found themselves up 67-43 heading into the final media timeout.
The Cowboys added four more points at the charity stripe and Alex Kruska drained a three for Tech to give the game its final score of 70-47.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
■ The Panthers shot 50 percent (30-for-60) from the floor, including 15.8 percent (3-for-19) from beyond the arc. Tech also added 19 assists and 14 steals.
■ The Cowboys shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor, including 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from three-point range.
■ Florida Tech moves to 19-2 all-time against UPR-Bayamon. The Panthers avenged their 76-70 loss to the Cowboys from last season.
■ 15 of the 19 wins have been by double digits, 11 of which have been by more than 20 points.
■ This was the teams’ first meeting on a neutral court since Nov. 19, 2007, in Orlando, Fla.
UP NEXT: Florida Tech will conclude the PBA Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow Saturday, Nov. 25 against UPR-Mayaguez. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Rubin Arena in West Palm Beach, Fla.
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