Spartans Out-Battle the Panthers

St. Petersburg, Fla. - The University of Tampa Men's basketball team outlasted Virginia Union as their record becomes 4-2

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: University of Tampa Spartans 67 Virginia Union University 66

Records: University of Tampa (4-2, 0-0 SSC), Virginia Union University (2-3, 0-0 CIAA)

Location: MCARTHUR CENTER | St. Petersburg, Fla

All-Time Series: This is the first time the two teams are facing each other.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half | Highlight dunk from the Panther's guard Demarius Pitts started the game off giving them the first basket. Anthony Gamble started it for the Spartans with a three-pointer in the corner. Pitts scored again with a made jumper to jump-start a 7-0 run. By the first media timeout, Tampa already had four turnovers. Late in the 13^th minute, Alberto Moreno came fast for a pass interception and drained a layup on the fast break to reduce their lead to one. Next possession Gamble hit another three-pointer in the same left corner to give the Spartans the lead again. Both plays contributed to a Tampa 10-0 run. To turn it around after the first media, Tampa then recorded six steals with eight minutes remaining. Virginia continued their highlight plays with a nice alley-oop made by Jordan Pebbles from Eric Bowles on a fast break. With both teams shooting well, no one team could jump out to a decent lead. The half ended with Tampa up by four.

2nd Half | With the break over, Devon Colley hit a deep three-pointer from the top of the key to score first for the Spartans. Colley came back with the same deep three to give them a six-point lead. Cedric Belemene started a 9-0 run with a good layup inside the paint. That run gave Tampa their biggest lead of the game, 13. With 14 minutes remaining, both teams had two players in double digits. The Panthers started to cut into the lead, but Vincent Biffle knocked down another deep three-pointer to push Tampa's lead back to 12. Most of Virginia Union points came from the line has the Spartans committed 12 fouls in the second half. Will Jenkins, for the Panthers, kept his hot hand from the break, dropping 8 points in the half. Virginia put the pressure on Tampa by running full-court press and reduced the lead to one. The Panthers grabbed a total of 12 offensive rebounds that was key to keeping them in the game. With seconds left in the game and Tampa up by one, Gamble grabbed an important rebound and then fouled to send him to the line during a one-n-one. He missed.  Five seconds left with the score at 67-66, Jamal Smith went for a layup but it was swatted by Belemene. Tampa wins.

INSIDE THE STATS:

Colley filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

The entire starting five for the Spartans finished the game in double digits.

Virginia's Demarius Pitts was the leading scorer of the game, finishing with 22 points

BEYOND THE BOX:

Coach Richard Schmidt still needs one more win to reach 700.

UP NEXT: The University of Tampa will travel to play against Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL at 7:30 p.m.  

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