Nova Southeastern Edges Tampa in Final Minutes

Box score

TAMPA, Fla.- The University of Tampa (4-10, 0-6 SSC) men's basketball fell short in a clencher second half to Nova Souteastern University (8-6, 3-2 SSC) on Saturday in Sunshine State Conference play at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

The Spartans played hard through four ties and nine lead changes and came out on top in the first half. The Spartans took a 27-24 lead to the locker room at the end of the first period to mark the first half time conference lead for the Spartans.

Ashton Graham led the Spartans with eight points and five rebounds. Lukas Roesch led the Sharks with six points in the opening half.

Taking the lead at the half gave the Spartans a boost for the start of the second period but was not enough to put away the Sharks. Nova Southeastern continued to dominate the paint and capitalize off the bench as Iran Hollis put up 17 points in the second half alone.

In the conference clencher Graham finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Spartans while Hollis finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds to give the Sharks the win. With one second on the clock to tie the game for overtime the Spartans fell short and the Sharks won 55-52.

The Spartans face their arch rival Florida Southern in a Black Out home game at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be provided through tampaspartans.tv.

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