MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team split its two-game, two-day trip to the Sunshine State with a win on Monday over Lynn University, 83-64, and a loss to the 2023 Health First Winter Classic hosts Florida Tech, 84-74, on Tuesday evening. It was the first time in Georgia Southwestern's NCAA era history they faced either school.

GSW led wire-to-wire against the Fighting Knights (5-2) in the event opener. The Hurricanes were up 43-28 at the break and stretched the advantage to 23 points in the second half. The Hurricanes drained a season-high 11 3-pointers while posting their best shooting percentage of the year from beyond the arc (52.4 percent). It was their second time connecting on 50 percent or better from long range in a game this season. Jalen Johnson led GSW with 23 points. He made 8 of 11 shots and dished out seven assists. Lars Nilsen added 15 points and Bryce Turner chipped in 12 while leading the team with eight rebounds. It was Southwestern's fifth consecutive victory.

The Hurricanes held the lead at Florida Tech (9-1) on Tuesday for nearly 15 minutes of game time (14:56) and was in front of the home team at the break, 34-30, but an 11-0 run by the Panthers early in the second half proved to be too much to overcome. Johnson and Nilsen both finished with 20 points in the second game. Johnson added eight more assists and Jaylen Jordon led the Hurricanes with seven rebounds. GSW buried 10 3-pointers (10-for-25), but could not overcome a 31-7 differential in free throw attempts. Florida Tech had six more steals in the game (8-2). GSW held the rebounding advantage, 38-35.

Inside the Storm

• Jalen Johnson has scored 20 or more points in four of the Hurricanes nine games this season
• JaKwon Moore did not play at the event. Moore scored 20 points in both of the two games prior to the trip. 
• GSW has scored 80 or more points in six of its last eight games
• Best start to a season for the Hurricanes (7-2) since the 2020-21 COVID-19 limited schedule

Next Up

Georgia Southwestern (7-2) will take a break for the holidays before returning home to host Tuskegee University (2-9) on Saturday, December 30 at 4 p.m.