Tampa Brushes Off Trevecca Nazarene

Tampa, Fla. - The University of Tampa Men's defeated Trevecca Nazarene in an effortless matchup. Half of Trevecca Nazarene's team are currently quarantined back in Nashville, TN.

Final: Tampa Spartans 76 (6-3), Trevecca Nazarene 48 (3-8)

Location: Bob Martinez Center || Tampa, Fla.

All-Time Series: This was the first matchup between the two programs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half: Jonathan Bryant II came out hot getting the start tonight. He started off with seven points off 3-for-3 shooting. Bryant II's put-back dunk (16') had the crowd roaring. Max Jones and Mykah Brown assisted the team early with their offensive shooting– Jones contributed 9 points with Brown's six points off the bench. Trevecca's Caleb Terry scored the first two points for his team and did not miss a shot going 4-for-4 from the field. Trevecca Nazarene, only playing with eight players quickly lost momentum as the Spartans deep rotation pounced on their opponents disadvantage. The Spartans defense was stellar, interrupting passing lanes and scoring off turnovers. (9:49) Brian Williams gets the steal and flushes it down the dunk— lead increased to 12. Trevecca had turnovers ending the half. Over the course of a few minutes the game flow slowed down— both teams got into foul trouble and Trevecca continued their offensive struggles. The Spartans maintained a double-digit lead during this period. (4') De'Andre Harvey threw the lob to Martin Lakovic, who converted a spectacular reverse alley-pop. Max Jones's jumper (1:26) increased the lead to 19 to end the half. || Score: 40-20 (Tampa)

Second Half: The Spartans led by 20 at the start of the half and looked to keep the momentum going. (18') Off the fastbreak, Max Jones receives the pass and throws it down. Tampa head coach, Richard Schimdt, went to his bench mostly in the second half. Trevecca took advantage of this and tried cutting into the lead. (13') Trevecca went on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 13 (57-44).  This was stopped by Tampa's Zach Simpson, who stepped up off the bench scoring a few buckets to increase the lead up to 23 (4:24). (1:28) Kaleb Carnes hit the three point shot to seal the fate. The Spartans defeat Trevecca Nazarene in a well decided matchup. || Final: 76-48 (Tampa)

INSIDE THE STATS

• Max Jones recorded 17 points and 5 rebounds.
• Bryan Williams scored 9 points off the bench.

BEYOND THE BOX

• Tampa's bench outscored Trevecca 37-3
• Tampa led in points off turnovers 26-15; Trevecca had a season-high 25 turnovers.

UP NEXT: Tampa will face Eckerd College Friday, Dec. 31 at 4pm in Tampa, FL.

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