Tampa Men's Basketball Suffers First Loss of Season to Benedict College

TAMPA, Fla. – The Benedict College Tigers handled the Tampa Spartans in the final game of the SSC/SIAC Crossover Classic.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP

Final Score:  Benedict Tigers 100, Tampa Spartans 78

Records: Tampa (1-1), Benedict (2-0) 

Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla. 

All-Time Series: Benedict leads the all-time series 4-0. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st HALF 

Tampa built up its first lead of the game on an 8-0 run capped off by transition three-pointers from Jesse White and Jacob Harris in the first two minutes of the first half. Bryan Williams added a three of his own for the next Spartans basket, matching the team total in the first half from the night before just three minutes into the contest. From there, Amari Davis kept up his scoring volume with two baskets on consecutive possessions to give the Spartans an eight-point lead five minutes into the game. The Tigers would respond with a 9-0 run and took their first lead of the game off a steal and layup on an errant Tampa inbound pass. Tampa regained the lead on two layups by Isaiah Young with just under 10 minutes to play, with the score later tied at 28 after another Harris three before a timeout. Tampa quickly continued a 10-0 run started by Harris and capped off by a Williams steal and pull-up three-pointer that caused Benedict head coach Artis Maddox to burn his second timeout of the game with under eight minutes to go in the half. The game continued its back-and-forth pace with the Tigers regaining the lead on an alley-oop dunk with just over five minutes remaining. Benedict's hot streak extended to an 18-3 margin over nearly four minutes of game time, and they slowly constructed their 13-point lead at the half as Tampa endured a 4:18 stretch without a field goal to end the period. | Score: 57-44 Benedict

2nd HALF

The Spartans continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, with Williams knocking down two shots from distance before the first media timeout of the second half. Benedict kept a sizeable lead over Tampa with good three-point shooting as well, draining four of its first six three-point attempts to open the half. Tampa wasn't able to cut into the Tigers advantage as the visitors held their largest lead of the game to that point at 17 with just over 10 minutes left to play. Benedict's sixth three-pointer of the half brought the lead to 23 with seven minutes left and Tampa out of timeouts. Tyson Leitao had a good half, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds to complete a double-double for the afternoon. Overall, Benedict played a complete half to finish off the victory. | Score: 100-78 Benedict

INSIDE THE STATS

• Leitao finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds, tying a career-high on the glass
• Williams led Tampa scorers with 18 points
• Davis was the third Spartan in double-figures in points with 17

BEYOND THE BOX

• Cole Gingeleski recorded his first point at the collegiate level 

UP NEXT: Tampa hosts Francis Marion University on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.