Leitao Double-Double Not Enough Against Top Ranked Nova

Tampa, Fla – The University of Tampa Men's Basketball team was back at the Bob this evening to take on the number three team in the country, Nova Southeastern. With only a handful of games remaining in the regular season the Spartans knew the importance of ending the year strong. In a game that featured the two fastest pace teams in the Sunshine State Conference, the action never stopped. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: Tampa 66, #3 Nova Southeastern 100

Records: Tampa 14-8 (6-8 SSC), #3 Nova Southeastern 19-1 (12-1 SSC)

Location: Bob Martinez Center l Tampa, Fla.

All-time series: This was the 50th meeting between these two programs. With the loss, Tampa falls to 19-31 in the all-time series. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

FIRST HALF: To start the contest Nova got right on the board and went straight into their patented full court press. The Spartans handled the press with speed and elite passing, setting up Tyson Leitao in the paint with the first Spartan points of the game. Amarion Nimmers gave the Spartans their first lead of the game with a corner three before Leitao came up with a huge three. This led to a huge Kaden Froebe transition three that gave Tampa a 8-4 lead after two and half minutes of play. The Spartans forced another Nova turnover and Tyson Leitoa set the Bob on fire with a physical three point play at the rim. Nova began to find their footing offensively and tied the game up at 11 with two deep jumpers. BJ Schaeffer made an immediate impact off the bench for the Spartans, swiping a Shark pass and getting to the line for a free throw. Nova answered with free throws themselves before drilling back to back shots to take their first multi-possession lead of the contest at 19-12. BJ Sheaffer ended the Nova run with a big time three to pull the Spartans within four with 13:37 left in the first half. Another freshman for Tampa making plays off the bench was Kyler Lamb. Lamb had a huge block on the defensive side of the court before setting up Tyson Leitao with a trip to the charity stripe. Tampa was playing good enough defense to stay close with the top offense in the nation but could not get buckets in bunches. By the ten minute mark Nova had used a 9-0 run to extend their lead out to 30-17. The Nova run ended with another freshman (Ryan Blount) hitting a huge corner three to revive the Spartans. As the first half crossed into the final six minutes, the Tampa defense was still holding strong. However the Spartans still could not find the big run they needed and found themselves down 37-25. The Spartans continued to force turnovers and Cole Gingeleski was keeping the Sharks at bay in the paint. At the four minute mark, Nova was able to turn three straight turnovers into points and a lead that was hovering around ten quickly grew to 20. Nova continued their run and saw their lead grow to 27 at one point before the Spartans ended the half with two baskets. 

Score: Tampa 29, #3 Nova Southeastern 55

SECOND HALF: With a big hole to climb out of, the Spartans needed to come out of the break swinging. They did just that with both Ryan Blount and Amarion Nimmers knocking down three's. After a Nova basket, Ryan Blount hit another three and the tampa offense was rolling. Tyson Leitao found himself in the passing lane to come away with a steal and finished the play on the other end by getting to the line. Even though Tampa had found some offensive momentum, they were unable to get stops in bunches and with 16 minutes remaining the Sharks led 63-41. Amarion Nimmers started to get hot, hitting back to back three's from the wing to put some life back into the crowd at the Bob. Through the first five minutes of this contest Tampa had outscored Nova 17-7 as they started to claw back into this contest. The Tampa run continued after Bryan Williams made a nice cut to the rim and finished a tough lay through contact. Williams then went coast to coast in transition to put two more big points up on the scoreboard. The Tampa defense kept fighting and before the 13 minute mark of the second half, a 27 point lead had been cut to 15. Kaden Froebe cut the lead down further to 13 with a quick move and finished past his defender. Unfortunately, the Sharks were able to put a stop to the Tampa run and used one of their own to push the lead back out to 20 at 72-52 with 11:10 remaining. Nova was then able to turn their small run into a big one as the game crossed into the final 10 minutes. Trey Lane tried to put an end to the Shark run with a much needed three and Tyson Leitao followed that up with a fade away floater. However Nova responded with a transition bucket and a three point play to push their lead back up to 25. They continued to pour it on and by the three minute mark, the Sharks led 96-64. The final few minutes were highlighted by Senior Zach Johnson drilling a three and BJ Schaeffer hitting a fade away jumper but Nova walked away with the big win. 

FINAL: Tampa 66, #3 Nova Southeastern 100

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Tyson Leitao records his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds

• Spartan defense came away with 10 total steals 

UP NEXT: The Spartans will head back out on the road this Saturday to face Rollins University. This contest will take place on February 8th, with tip-off scheduled for 4:00pm. 

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