MELBOURNE, Fla. - Clark Atlanta men's basketball opened the 2015-2016 season with a 94-88 loss to Florida Tech from the home court as part of the NCAA South Regional Tipoff Challenge. The game marked the season opener for each team in the 2015-2016 season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:Score: Florida Tech 94, Clark Atlanta 88
Record: Florida Tech (1-0), Clark Atlanta(0-1)
Date: Nov. 13, 2015 | Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.
HOW IT HAPPENED:Clark Atlanta trailed 4-0 before
Damien Enoch took the
Derek Harper pass in for a layup with 18:19 to play in the first half.
Enoch added the second CAU field goal of the night, 16:02 in the opening half, to cut the deficit to 7-4.
After FIT ran the advantage to double digits,
James Arnold knocked down a 3-pointer to return the deficit to single digits with 5:04 left until halftime; 33-24.
A 10-2 run late in the half extended the FIT lead to 17 points, 43-26, the largest of the opening half.
A late 3-pointer by FIT returned the home court lead to 17, 46-29, with less than a minute until the half. The score remained until the intermission.
Early in the second half the advantage for FIT would be extended to 20 points, and to as many as 21, before Enoch, Arnold, and
Cornell Barnett chipped away to pull within 12 with 13:31 remaining after a Barnett jumper was good.
The lead would remain double-digits until a 3-pointer from Harper followed by a Barnett layup trimmed the lead to seven with 5:30 left in the game; 79-72.
FIT ran the lead back to 11 before a CAU run brought it back to six, 87-81, with 1:28 after Arnold stole the pass and took it the length of the court for the dunk.
The lead would hover near double-digits in the advantage of Florida Tech before back-and-forth fouls and free throws ended the game with Harper and
Derrick Herbert each adding a pair of free throws before Echols from FIT sealed the game with a pair for FIT.
THE NUMBERS:Enoch (23) and Arnold (22) were the high scorers in the game. Enoch went 10-for-14 from the floor and was 3-for-6 on FT attempts. Arnold went 8-for-15 from the floor, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and 1-for-2 from the line.
Harper scored 15 with the help of 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. He had a rough game from the field shooting just 2-for-10.
Enoch added 14 rebounds for the double-double.
Harper posted a team-high four assists.
CAU was outshot 47-41% by FIT.
Clark Atlanta had the advantage in points-off-turnovers; 23-16.
UP NEXT:Clark Atlanta will play Rollins tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in the finale Tipoff Challenge.
