Tampa Posts Big Win Over Lynn to Advance in SSC Tourney
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The University of Tampa (17-13) men's basketball team played to a 74-49 victory over Lynn University (11-16) in the opening round of the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena.
Tampa brought the intensity in the first half, scoring nine of the first 12 points and maintained the advantage to take a 35-25 lead to the half. The Spartans led by as many as 15 points in the first half while shooting 60 percent from the field.
The Spartans weathered a brief Fighting Knight rally that cut the UT lead to six points with 14:03 to play, prompting a 19-3 Tampa run to put the game out of reach and advance Tampa to the next round of play.
Senior Anthony Griffis led all Spartans with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. The Raleigh, N.C., native also connected on three long-range shots and finished with five rebounds and a steal.
Vincent Cornu registered his third straight double-double with 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Jon Riles turned in a team-leading six assists in a starting role for the Spartans.
Tampa finished with a 59.5 percent clip from the field, also making 6-for-9 from 3-point range. UT also held a sizable advantage on the boards (39-21).
The Spartans advance to play No. 1 seed Saint Leo University, who they split with during the regular season. The quarterfinal is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m. Live stats and a video broadcast will be available through SunshineStateConference.com. Please visit the Championship Central section for complete information on the conference tournament.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.