Florida Memorial Men’s Basketball team used a big second half of precision shooting to defeat Thomas University 82-66 and pick up a key conference win at Thomas University’s Gymnasium.
The first half was an even contest as neither team broke out to a significant lead. Florida Memorial led by as many as nine points in the half, but Thomas never allowed the Lions to pull away. Florida Memorial entered the locker room down, 37-36.
Coming out of the break, the game adjustment by Coach Maddox seemed to work as the Lions poured on the offense at the start of the second half to take the lead 43-40. With 16:17 to go, the offensive explosion continued as the Lions hit five baskets in a row and put up 46 points in the half. The Lions went on a 12-2 run to dominate Thomas and extended their lead to 12, 58-46. They turned up the heat and held Thomas scoreless for most of the second half. The back breaker came when Thomas went on a run of their own and cut the Lions lead to 10. Familiar with close game situations, the Lions slowed the tempo, controlled the clock, and scored down the stretch to close out the game and seal the win.
Florida Memorial out-shot Thomas 48.1% to 40 % percent. The Lions shot 33.8 % from the three point line to Thomas’ 25 %.
Florida Memorial Lions will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, January 12th, when they host Warner University with Tip-off at 8:00 p.m.
