Second Half Shooting Dooms Spartan Men

Box score

LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team dropped its fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference game, falling 81-73 to Florida Southern. The Spartans are now 9-8 on the season and 1-4 in the SSC. The Mocs improve to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in league play.

The two teams traded the lead several times in the first half, with Tampa taking a 38-37 lead to halftime. The Spartans then went on a 7-0 lead to begin the second half before Florida Southern went on an 11-0 run of their own to take the lead for good.

Tampa, who shot just 23.5 percent from the field in the second half after hitting at a 43.3 clip in the first, went on droughts without a field goal of 10 minutes and seven minutes in the final half.

Jeff James led Tampa with a team-high 16 points as Jeremy Black and Johnathan Ball each had 14 points. Black, who fouled out with 3:34 remaining in the game, led Tampa with eight rebounds. Jeffrey Moore was also in double figures with 11 points.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday as they play host to SSC opponent Lynn at 7:30 pm at the Bob Martinez Sports Center in Tampa.