Eckerd Pulls Away From Tampa For Victory

Box score

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team suffered its fifth consecutive Sunshine State Conference loss after dropping a 74-53 decision to Eckerd. The Spartans are now 9-10 and below .500 for the first time since the beginning of the 2003 season and 1-6 in SSC play. Eckerd improves to 14-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

The Spartans, who led for the first 10 minutes of the game, allowed Eckerd to take a double figure lead at the 3:12 mark before heading to the half with an 11-point deficit.

Tampa managed to keep the game within striking distance in the first 10 minutes of the second half, cutting Eckerd's lead to four points with 10:58 remaining. The Tritons then went on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes before stretching the advantage to 20 with 2:40 to go.

Johnathan Ball led all Tampa scorers with 14 points while Chris King and Jeff James also registered double figures with 12 and 10 points apiece. Jeremy Black led the Spartans with nine rebounds.

UT, who shot 43.9 percent from the field, recorded just three assists as a team. The Spartans also recorded nearly twice as many turnovers as Eckerd, turned the ball over 31 times compared to 16 for the Tritons.

The Spartans are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Fort Lauderdale to face Nova Southeastern. The game is slated for 7:30 pm.