MELBORNE, Fla. - The Union University men's basketball team lost 97-77 to Florida Tech Saturday evening in the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Classic championship game. Union dropped to 4-2 on the season, while Florida Tech improved to 3-4 overall.
Union freshman Tevin Florent scored the game's first basket 45 seconds into play. After five straight from FIT, Florent added a pair of free throws to make the Union deficit 5-4 at the 17:11 mark. From that point on, Florida Tech took control of the game and never looked back. The Panthers posted an 18-0 run to lead 23-4 at the 11:30 mark. FIT led by as many as 26 points in the first half three times, before taking a 52-28 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Union scored first and cut the deficit to 20 points, but that was as close as the Bulldog could get. Florida Tech extended their lead to as many as 40 points, 89-49, with 8:28 left to play. Union outscored the Panthers 28-8 over the final eight minutes to set the final scored at 97-77.
Union was led by Pedro Da Silva, who was named to the Florida Tech All-Tournament team, with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Florent also added 20 points for the Bulldogs, while Nick Velasquez scored 15 points on five 3-pointers. Alex Keel and KC Goodwin led Union with six assists. Union shot well from the field at 49 percent, but were just 31 percent (10-32) from the 3-point line, including only 2-of-13 for 15 percent in the first half. Union was 5-of-9 (56%) from the free throw line.
Florida Tech shot 52 percent from the field, 39 percent (14-36) from long range, and 93 percent (13-14) form the free throw line. The Panthers were led by Jordan Majors with a game-high 30 points and five 3-pointers. Sam Daniel added 25 points, Richard Coil 15 points, and Michael Milligan 10 points. Valur Valsson dished out 10 assists. and Daniel led with seven rebounds.
Up next for Union will be their first Gulf South Conference games of the year, both on the road. First up is Mississippi College Thursday, November 30 at 7:30 p.m., then at Delta State Saturday, December 2 at 4 p.m. Listen on 93.1 FM or online at www.uuathletics.com/live.
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