Tampa Upends Concordia 86-81

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's basketball team held on for an 86-81 victory over Concordia (N.Y.) Monday night at the Martinez Center. The win improves the Spartans to 6-2 on the season while the Clippers remain winless at 0-8.

The Spartans dominated play in the first half, enjoying as much as a 19-point advantage in the stanza behind the strength of a balanced offensive attack as four Tampa players finished the half with eight points each and the UT offense recorded a .548 field goal percentage.

After taking a 48-31 lead into the locker room at the break, Tampa continued to control the game and built up its largest lead of the contest when Rashad Callaway's layup at the 14:34 mark put the Spartans up by 21.

However, the Clippers proceeded to roll off a 21-7 run over the game's next six minutes to cut the Tampa lead to seven. Concordia continued to cut into the lead and pulled within two with 6:24 remaining in the half.

The Spartans were resilient however and thanks in part to a pair of 3-pointers from Mounir Benzegala and Callum Townsend, UT was back up by eight just two minutes later. Tampa didn't register a field goal in the game's final minutes, but a 9-12 performance from the charity stripe in waning moments allowed the hosts to secure the victory.

Townsend led the Spartans in scoring on the night as the freshman scored 22 including a 5-10 performance from beyond the arc. Callaway finished the night 11-14 from the free throw line and tallied 17 points while also adding a team-best five assists.

Benzegalla chipped in 15 while Marcus Morrison added 11 points to round out Tampa's double-figure scorers. Morrison also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The visitors outrebounded Tampa by a 40-31 margin on the night, but UT performed better from the field as the Spartans registered a 49.0 field goal percentage for the contest compared to Concordia's 45.2 percent field goal rate.

Tampa will now square off against Delta State at home on Tuesday night with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

UT will offer live stats through www.tampaspartans.com, accessible by clicking on the Multimedia link. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.