Golden Comeback Seals Tampa Victory

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (6-3) men's basketball team came from behind for a 70-65 victory over visiting Miles College (0-6) on the opening day of the Tampa Classic at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

Tampa trailed by as many as 12 points, but cut into the Miles lead to trail 29-28 at the half. The Golden Bears would extend their lead to 38-30 with 16:25 to play, before UT would go on an 11-1 run to grab a 41-39 lead with 13:05 on the clock.

The teams would exchange leads before the Spartans grabbed control, going up 56-51 with 6:48 remaining in regulation. A 6-for-6 free throw effort for Tampa inside the one-minute mark helped head coach Richard Schmidt's squad secure the victory.

Jordan Davis led all scorers with 22 points, as the junior point guard also had four assists, seven rebounds, one block and a steal. He also came up clutch at the free throw line with an 11-for-13 effort. The College of Central Florida transfer also connected on three from long-range.

Senior Eric Moraes added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting as he also grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds.

Miles benefited from a solid 3-point shooting effort, connecting on nine from long range. Despite outshooting the Spartans, UT enjoyed a 32-29 advantage on the boards and also forced 15 turnovers. The Spartans also shot 75.7 percent from the free throw line with 37 attempts from the charity stripe.

Head coach Richard Schmidt also moved one win closer to his 600th career victory at UT. He now stands at 596 as the all-time winningest coach in program history has already eclipsed 600 for his career as that total now stands at 627.

UT will meet Pfeiffer University on Sunday at 4 p.m., in the final game of the Tampa Classic. The Falcons suffered an 85-68 loss to Eckerd on Saturday in Tampa. Live stats and a video broadcast will be available through TampaSpartans.tv.

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