Home Opener an Easy Victory for Spartans

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team returned from its Christmas break with a 91-61 victory over McMaster (Ontario). The Spartans are now 6-2 on the year while the Marauders fall to 4-5.

UT scored the game's first four points and never gave back the lead, stretching the advantage to as many as 33 points in the first half. It took the Spartans just under eight minutes to take a double figure lead, as the edge swelled to 18 points prior to the 10 minute mark of the first half.

In the second half, Tampa pulled its starters at the 17:16 mark. With its reserves taking the floor with a 77-43 lead, the group maintained the easy victory as a total of 12 Spartans scored on the evening.

Jeremy Black led UT in scoring with 17 points while Chris Evans contributed 16 as the lone double figure scorers. Evans also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with four steals.

The Spartans received a boost from the reserves as Mounir Benzegala and Scott Mascio led the team with six assists apiece. Mascio also scored a career high five points. Benzegala added nine points while freshman Matt Tomaszewski notched his best game as a Spartan with eight points. Tomaszewski connected on a pair of three pointers on the night.

Tampa enjoyed its top game of the year from its bench, who scored 39 points as a unit. Freshman Glyn Hunter added five points while fellow freshman Rudy Jean registered six points in his UT debut. A.J. Davis scored four points while DeVaughn Gow chipped in two for the UT reserves.

The Spartans connected on a season-high 13 three-pointers while shooting 54.2 percent from three-point range. UT also shot 54.1 from the field while coming within one point of its season high in points.

The game with McMaster also marked the first game that Tampa has played against a non-U.S., opponent.

UT will be back in action on Saturday as it will host Augusta State (Ga.) at 4 p.m.