Spartans Stow Tars On the Road

Box score

WINTER PARK, Fla.-The University of Tampa (13-6, 6-4 SSC) men's basketball team cruised to a 72-57 win over Rollins College (10-10, 4-6 SSC) Wednesday night at Warden Arena.

The Spartans got off to a scolding hot start, leading 19-5 seven and a half minutes into the game. Tampa's offense was executed perfectly along with its defense; only allowing five points in the first 10 minutes of the game. However, Rollins worked its way back into the contest, cutting the UT lead down to five at halftime.

Da'Markco Foster led the Spartans with nine points at the half, including a ridiculous 4-point play where he threw up a desperation fade-away three-pointer with the shot clock running down, banking the ball in off the backboard plus the foul.

Tampa shot 55 percent from the field, while holding Rollins to a mere 30 percent for the half. UT also held Rollins' leading scorer Mitch Woods without a basket in the first half of play.

Early in the second half both teams traded baskets; however, Rollins cut the Tampa lead down to two points with 12 minutes remaining. The Spartans responded with a 19-8 run over a five minute span, to go up 55-42 with over seven minutes to play.

Late in the second, the game almost got out of hand when Jordan Davis went up for a fast break layup and Scott Schuette violently threw Davis to the ground. The play resulted in a flagrant foul and an ejection of Schuette, much to the disliking of the hostile crowd. Davis received two free throws and the ball, in which he knocked down a big three-pointer on the same possession for a five point play.

The Spartans sealed the win thanks to their ability to hit big-time free throws down the stretch. Four starters finished with double figures for Tampa. Foster finished the game with 20 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the field and an extremely efficient 4-for-5 from behind the three-point arc. Vincent Cornu finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Davis finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Ryan Kidd also contributed 12 points.

Tampa's dominance was evident as they never trailed in the game. The Spartans finished shooting 55 percent from the field and an amazing 69 percent from three.

The Spartans will host Florida Tech at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center this Saturday. UT fell to the Panthers earlier in the season 66-71 in Melbourne. Tampa owns a 46-22 all-time record versus FIT.

Tickets are available at the gate for $5. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free. UT faculty, staff and students are admitted free when displaying a valid Spartan ID card.

UT will offer live stats and a webcast for the match through TampaSpartans.tv.

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