Tampa Hangs On To Defeat Puerto Rico-Bayamon

Box score

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Tampa (4-0) men's basketball team held off the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamon (1-4) for a 58-50 victory in the final day of the Eckerd Classic.

Trailing 24-19 with 6:22 to play in the first half, UT went on a 19-4 run to carry a 38-28 lead to the break. On the run, Da'Markco Foster had nine of the 19 Spartan points.

After taking a 13-point lead on the first possession of the second half, Tampa allowed UPRB to score the next 10 points to trim the Spartan lead to 41-38. UT would stretch its lead to eight before Bayamon enjoyed another spurt, cutting the Tampa lead to 51-50 with 5:38 to play.

Freshman Austin Rettig responded with four the next six Spartan points as head coach Richard Schmidt's squad finished the game on a 7-0 run over the final five minutes.

Foster led the Spartans for the third straight game, tallying 17 points as Anthony Griffis contributed 15 as the only other Spartan in double figures.

Rettig pitched in a team-high eight rebounds off the bench to go with eight points. Jon Riles led all Spartans with three assists as Foster also excelled defensively with a season-best five steals.

Bayamon shot 51.4 percent from the field, and also outrebounded Tampa by a slim 26-25 margin. The Spartans kept control of the game while forcing 23 turnovers, compared to just 14 for UT.

The Spartans will return to action on Friday when they travel to St. Leo, Fla., for the Saint Leo Classic. UT will meet Fort Valley State on Friday at 8:30 p.m., and conclude the Classic versus Armstrong on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Live stats will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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