Florida Southern Ends #12 Tampa’s Record Winning Streak

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 12 University of Tampa (16-1, 5-1 SSC) men's basketball team saw its school-record 16-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern College (13-4, 5-1 SSC), with the Moccasins claiming an 81-67 victory over the Spartans at the Bob Martinez Sports Center.

The teams played an evenly contested first half, with neither squad leading by more than four points until Florida Southern grabbed a 26-20 lead with 4:11 to play in the first half. The Spartans scored the final five points of the first half to take a 31-27 advantage to the half.

Florida Southern claimed its first lead of the second half with an Andrew Hawkins layup with 14:22 showing on the clock to give the Mocs a 40-39 edge. That was the start of an 11-3 FSC run as its lead was increased to 11 with 9:47 to play as UT was not able to mount a late comeback to overcome the deficit.

Fred Woods came off the bench to lead Tampa with 16 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. The senior forward had 11 of his rebounds on the offensive end and also added a pair of blocks in 32 minutes.

Anthony Griffis matched Woods' team high with 16 points as a total of five Spartans scored in double figures. Rashad Callaway and Ashton Graham each netted 11 points as Osby Kelly contributed 10 off the bench. Callaway also turned in a team-high eight assists.

FSC shot at a 47.2 percent clip and also outshot the Spartans from 3-point range by 9-6. UT won the battle of the boards, 51-35, but was hindered by a 17.6 percent mark from 3-point range as the Mocs were 39.1.

Tampa now hits the road for a pair of SSC games, first at Nova Southeastern on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Spartans then face Florida Tech on Wednesday at 7:30 before returning home to host Barry University on Sat., Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.