Tampa Turns It Up In Overtime To Defeat Nova Southeastern

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (20-5, 0-5 SSC) men's basketball team picked up a critical Sunshine State Conference victory as it outlasted Nova Southeastern University (12-12, 5-9 SSC) in a 91-82 overtime decision on Saturday at the Bob Martinez Sports Center.

The win puts head coach Richard Schmidt's squad at 20 victories on the year, marking the first time since 2007-08 that UT has reach 20 wins. This also marks the 17th time Schmidt has reached the 20-win mark at Tampa.

Tampa was hampered early by a 2-for-8 first half effort from the free throw line as NSU took a 41-36 advantage to halftime. The Spartans were also outrebounded by a 26-12 margin in the first half.

A late run by the Spartans forced an extra period as it took until the 1:32 mark of the second half for UT to grab a 78-76 lead on a pair of Rashad Callaway free throws. After Nova's Alex Gynes hit a pair of free throws to even the score at 78-78, UT missed a pair of game-winning 3-point attempts to force overtime.

Playing in its second overtime of the season versus the Sharks, Tampa led for the duration of overtime and extended the lead to seven points with just under a minute to play to put the Sharks out of contention in the closing minute of action.

Anthony Griffis led all Spartans with a team-high 21 points while Callaway added 20. Callum Townsend came off the bench to connect on five 3-pointers as the sophomore finished with 19 on the day. Ashton Graham made it four Tampa players in double digits as he netted 15.

Graham also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds as he narrowly missed on a double-double. Callaway was the Spartan leader in both assists and steals at six and four respectively.

With two regular season games remaining, Tampa travels to Florida Southern College on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with its longtime SSC rival. Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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