Malone Surges Past Tampa With Second Half Effort

Box score

LAKELAND, Fla. - In a neutral site matchup, Malone University (7-5) handed the University of Tampa (2-6) men's basketball team a 77-60 loss. The game was played at Jenkins Fieldhouse on the campus of Florida Southern College.

The Spartans kept the game close throughout the first half, taking with Malone taking a slim 32-30 advantage to halftime. The Pioneers would score the first eight points of the second half to grab its largest lead of the contest at 40-30.

Tampa cut the Malone lead to 46-40 before the Pioneers proceeded to put the game out of reach as it went on a 14-1 run to grab a 60-41 lead with 7:37 remaining in regulation. MU would lead by as many as 24 points as it skated to the 17-point win.

Eric Moraes turned in a career-high 13 points to lead all Tampa scorers as redshirt freshman Fred Lewis scored each of his career-high 12 points in the first half. Moraes also led all Spartans with six rebounds. Freshman Jon Riles was credited with a team-high five assists and two steals.

Tampa lost its third straight game as it was outrebounded 35-26. On a bright note, Tampa forced 17 Malone turnovers while only committing nine. The Spartans were hindered by its 3-point shooting, connecting on just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc for 11.8 percent. Malone also made the most of its chances, making all 22 free throw attempts.

The Spartans will return home to the Bob Martinez Athletics Center where it will host Chowan University on Monday at 2 p.m. UT will offer live stats and a video webcast through tampaspartans.tv.

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