Melbourne, Fla. – Lynn University's men's basketball team got back on the winning track with an impressive 77-63 victory over Florida Tech on Wednesday night. Five Fighting Knights scored in double-figures in getting their first Sunshine State Conference victory of the season, improving to 3-11 overall and 1-3 in league play.
The Blue & White could do no wrong in the first 20 minutes of play. Chris Watson put on a dunking clinic in matching his career-high with 12 points, eight of which came on slams. The sophomore forward brought about oohs and ahhs on consecutive plays with a reverse dunk from the baseline then a towering block off a shot by the Panthers.
Lynn led 39-21 at the half and never looked back. Leading by as many as 20 in the second stanza, Jovan Robinson, Jimmy Gaskins and Josh Garcia started to heat up. All three finished with 15 points, joining Cameron McCallum with the team-high in scoring.
Florida Tech (10-7, 1-3 SSC) looked as though it would put up the white flag, inserting its reserves with six minutes left to play. But the Panthers' back-ups mounted a comeback with a 10-0 run, to cut the gap to single-digits, 62-53. With the crowd and momentum in its favor, FIT thought it could get back in the game but Robinson made a fast-break lay-up and Gaskins went for six consecutive points, including a immense one-handed dunk over Ashlin Romero to punctuate LU's victory.
Lynn shot 61.9% from the field and held Florida Tech to 35.6% shooting while forcing 19 turnovers and logging 10 steals. Although kept from double-figures in scoring, Chris Hall led the team with four steals.
The Blue & White return to the hardwood on Saturday, January 15, at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Lakeland, Fla., to battle Florida Southern. Fans can follow the action live by logging on towww.LynnFightingKnights.com and selecting "Game Central."
