SARASOTA, Fla. - The Mighty Banyans men's basketball team won knocked off Florida National 70-68 in their first home game of the new year. 

The Mighty Banyans (4-11) entered Tuesday's match up on the heels of back to back victories over Atlantis University and Fort Lauderdale. 

The Banyan offense competed well in the first half of action. FNU jumped out to an early advantage, finding a bucket on multiple possessions to begin the game. Schuyler Pimentel boosted the Banyan offense off the bench, scoring 4 early points and bringing the energy on the defensive end. New College shot an impressive 52% from the field in the first half. 

The Banyan defense struggled to keep up with Florida National's high-powered offense. FNU attempted 13 more shots than NCF in the first half of action, which was a big contributer to their 8 point lead at the half. 

New College of Florida came out with a fire in the second half. Adonis Caneris provided a much needed spark from behind the arc, knocking down 3 of his 5 three point attempts. Giovanni Toscanini played great in twenty minutes off the bench, scoring 8 points on 80% shooting from the field. 

Both teams were locked at 68 with just under a minute to go. Florida National ran down the clock before attacking the rim. Banyan's forward Jack Scott read the attack perfectly, altering the shot and giving the Banyan's possesion with 21 seconds remaining on the clock. After calling timeout, New College began their final offensive possession of the game. Jordan Clark came off a ball screen towards the right wing. Pivoting back toward the middle of the floor, he found Sophomore guard Shawn Lefrense. Lefresne, using a well executed back screen from Jack Scott, drove into the middle of the key and floated a jump shot through the net with three seconds remaining. 

The Banyan's defense got a stop on the final possession, completing their second half comeback and winning the game 70-68. 

Schuyler Pimentel lead the Banyan's in scoring with 16 points. 

Shawn Lefresne scored 12 points, including the game winning floater with seconds remaining. 

Jordan Clark, Jack Scott, Giovanni Toscanini, and Alex Excellent all played key roles in the Mighty Banyan Victory. 

The Mighty Banyan's are back in action on Friday, Jan 19 at 7:00 against Paine College.