Pezzullo Tip-In Leads Tampa Over Lynn

Box score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team trailed most of the game but led when it counted as they left Lynn University with a 60-59 victory over the Fighting Knights. With the victory, the Spartans improve to 15-11 on the season and 7-7 in Sunshine State Conference play. Lynn drops to 14-11 and 6-8 in league action.

The victory also marked the 500th victory for head coach Richard Schmidt at UT. The program's winningest coach also picked up his 500th overall win last season.

After Tampa's Chris King scored the first basket of the game, Lynn went on a run that would give them a 17-6 lead with 12:25 remaining in the first half. The Knights, who led by as many as 13 in the first half, went to halftime with a 31-24 lead.

With Lynn leading 38-27 at the 17:37 mark of the second half, UT made a pivotal rally on an 8-0 run that put them within three of the Knights with 14:56 left in the contest. The Spartans then took a four point lead at 47-43 on a King three-pointer with 9:16 on the clock.

The two teams then exchanged leads five different times over the next nine minutes as Lynn to a 59-58 lead on an Andrew Smith three-pointer with 29 seconds to play. On the next possession, Matt Pezzullo was there to rebound a missed three-pointer by King and tip it in for the 60-59 win with four seconds on the clock.

Jeremy Black led the Spartans with 20 points on 9-11 shooting from the free-throw line. Other Spartans who registered double figures in points were King with 12 and Jeff James with 10.

Pezzullo, the star of the game, finished with a team-high 10 rebounds. He also led the team with four assists. His point total for the evening was seven.

UT returns home to play their final two regular season games at the Bob Martinez Sports Center, beginning with a Wednesday night showdown with Eckerd. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.