WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball returned home on Wednesday night for a rematch against SSC foe Florida Tech.
 
A balanced attack and solid defense for the Sailfish led to an 88-74 win over the Panthers. PBA (14-6, 7-5 SSC) held FT (10-10, 4-8 SSC) to 40 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers as it completed the season sweep. 
 
The Sailfish had five players reach double-digit scoring. They were led by Malek Barber who had a season-high 22 points with four 3-pointers, six rebounds and five assists. Jules Jasmin was right behind him with 15 points. Darhius Nunn added 16 points with five assists. Midway through the second half, Nunn earned his 117th assist of the season to break the PBA single-season record. Dan Largey totaled 13 points while Justin Nichelson finished with 11 points.
 
A big discrepancy between both teams was the amount of time each team spent at the foul line. PBA shot 29 free throws compared to FT's 14 attempts. PBA made the most of its chances knocking down 79 percent of its opportunities at the line.
 
Largey got off to a quick start for the Sailfish. He notched seven points through the first seven minutes of play which helped give the 'Fish an 18-6 lead. After its quick start, PBA was cursed with a scoring drought as points were hard to come by for the 'Fish for the next 10 minutes. Florida Tech took advantage by going on a 16-5 run to make it a 26-22 game with three minutes left in the half.
 
The Sailfish tacked on a few points via the free throw line towards the end of the half to keep the lead. PBA went into halftime leading 32-27.
 
FT continued to hang around in the second half as both teams struggled to take care of the basketball; however, shots started to fall more frequently for both sides. After the first 10 minutes of the period, the score was knotted up at 50.
 
PBA began to retake control of the game thanks to a 3-pointer from Nunn and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Jasmin which kickstarted a run where the junior forward scored seven out of PBA's nine points as the 'Fish grew there lead back to double digits.
 
FT tried to stay within striking distance, but PBA continued to get to the charity stripe and knock down free throws. A dunk from Barber made it 75-64 PBA with three minutes remaining. The Panthers made it a seven-point game with a minute remaining, but a breakaway slam from De'Ondre Jackson was the dagger that led to the 88-74 win.
 
The Sailfish will take the weekend off before facing Embry-Riddle at home next week. The game at Rubin Arena takes place at 7:30 p.m.