Tampa Pulls out Victory Over Texas A&M-Kingsville

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa Spartans (4-4) hosted the visiting Texas A&M-Kingsville Javalina (4-6) Tuesday night at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. The two teams played a overtime battle as Tampa pulled out the victory 79-76.

In the first half of the contest, sophomore Austin Rettig found his groove early on, as he went 6-9 from the field en route to 15 points, as Tampa took a 31-27 lead into half time. The Spartans also played tough defense early on as they held the Javalina to a 34.5 shooting percentage.

The game went down to the wire, as Texas A&M-Kingsville tied the game with a pair of free-throws at 61 with 1:21 left to play in regulation. On the following possession, Senior Eugene McCrory took a pass from Jordan Davis in the paint to give the Spartans the lead at 63-62.

With 10 seconds left on the clock, Davis shot a three-pointer, but a big offensive rebound from McCrory kept possession for UT. TAMU proceeded to foul Davis, as he knocked down two free-throws to give Tampa a 65-62 lead with 4.2 seconds left. Don Thomas made a three for Texas A&M-Kinsgville as the clock expired to send the game into overtime.

In the overtime period, the two teams played a back and forth affair as the teams traded baskets down the stretch. back to back layups from McCrory and senior Tiant-Zion McCoy gave Tampa a 75-72 lead with 1:10 left on the clock. Tampa knocked down free-throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

McCrory finished the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds.Davis also added a double-double with 12 points and a season high 12 assists. Retting joined in on the scoring with 21 points of his own.

Tampa will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday, as they host the Tampa Classic.

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