Eckerd Tops Tampa in SSC Road Contest

Box score

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Tampa (4-10, 0-5 SSC) men's basketball team dropped an 80-64 decision to Eckerd College (9-4, 3-2 SSC) on Wednesday in Sunshine State Conference play from the McArthur Center.

Tampa hung with the Tritons for the majority of the first half, before Eckerd used its homecourt advantage to force 12 Tampa turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The Tritons took a 38-25 lead to the half behind a 14-point effort by Wayne Sears, Jr.

Despite a career game by senior Ashton Graham, UT was unable to crack the Tritons as the home team shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the second half to hold off Tampa.

Graham finished with a career-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor. He also connected on three 3-pointers and grabbed a team-high three rebounds.

Callum Townsend added 13 points for the Spartans as Terrell Pritchett led head coach Richard Schmidt squad with three assists.

The Spartans return home where it will host Nova Southeastern University on Saturday at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. The game is slated for 4 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be provided through tampaspartans.tv.

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