Deeper Florida Gulf Coast beats Florida Tech 77-58

Dec 3, 2014, 09:33 pm

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Freshman Christian Terrell came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points and help power Florida Gulf Coast past previously unbeaten Florida Tech 77-58 Wednesday night.

Terrell hit 8 of 13 shots including five 3-pointers for the Eagles (7-1). Fellow reserves Julian DeBose and Marc-Eddy Norelia scored 12 points and 10, respectively, as the bench saw plenty of minutes against the Division II Panthers (7-1).

Bernard Thompson saw the most minutes of the starters (14) and went off for 16 points, banging down 4-of-5 3-pointers.

Except for an early five-minute scoreless stretch -- while Florida Gulf Coast reeled off 13 points, six from Norelia, five from Terrell and two from DeBose -- the Panthers hung tough. The smaller school led 39-36 after halftime, until a seven-minute cold stretch saw them outscored 17-3.

Jermaine Jackson's 18 points led Tech, which shot 32 percent and was out-boarded 54-39.