Spartans Drop Tight Game With Mocs

Box score

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Tampa Spartans traveled to Lakeland, Florida to take on the top ranked team in the nation, the Florida Southern Mocs. The two teams played a close game, but the Mocs were able to pull out a 87-79 victory.

Tampa falls to 18-8, and 9-6 in conference play, while Florida Southern goes to 26-1, and 14-1 in SSC play.

The two teams played a tightly contested first half, as the Mocs were able to up by as many as 10 in the opening half, but the Spartans kept chipping away to go into the break tied at 42.

The second half was similar to the second half, as FSC was able to gain another 10 point advantage when the game was 71-61. UT teh went on a 10-0 run over the next 1:23 to tie up the game. The Spartans were not able to regain the lead after that point, as the Mocs outscored them 15-8 down the stretch.

The key factor in the game were shots beyond the arc, as Florida Southern connected on 13 three-pointer, while Tampa only hit seven.

Eugene McCrory led Tampa as he dropped 18 points and collected eight rebounds. Austin Rettig contributed with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Jordan Davis racked up 16 points and nine rebounds.

Kyle Middleton recorded a career high 11 points, while Jason Brown added seven points.

Tampa will be back in action on Saturday as they welcome in Barry at 4:00 p.m.

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