No. 3 Nova Southeastern Holds Off Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. -  The Nova Southeastern Sharks came to Tampa Saturday afternoon and defeated the Spartans in an SSC matchup.

Final: No. 3 Nova Southeastern University Sharks 84, University of Tampa Spartans 75

Records:  Nova Southeastern (16-0) SSC: (11-0); Tampa (11-5) SSC: (7-4)

Location: Bob Martinez Center || Tampa, Florida 

All-Time Series: The Spartans are 19-24 against Nova Southeastern all-time. The Spartans lost their last eight matchups against Nova.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

First Half: Spartans going up against the undefeated NSU Sharks, had a slow start giving up an 8-0 run getting on the scoreboard first. The Spartans were trying to battle back early after trailing by six (13-7). What really got the Spartans back in the game was a second-chance three-pointer made by Jonathan Bryant II. But NSU's Pierre would immediately respond with a three-pointer to put the lead back to six. Derrick Felder would get on the scoreboard with the retaliating three-pointer to cut the lead back to three (16-13). Bryant II would shoot two free throws to narrow the lead down to two. Felder and Bryant II would score 15 of Tampa's 33 points in the half. The Spartans cut the lead to one 4 five times and tied the game up four times in the half– Spartans trail by 10 going into halftime. II Score: 43-33 (NSU)

Second Half: Tampa came out pouncing on the Sharks early on with tremendous play Derrick Felder. Felder would score nine points in the first four minutes of the half trying to cut the lead down more and more (51-46).  After that, NSU went on an 8-0 to extend the lead to 14 (62-48) with 13:57 remaining. An 8-0 would turn into a 17-7 run from 15:30-11:20 before a media timeout. Turnovers said the game for the Spartans. The Sharks pounced on their prey (Spartans), stealing the ball possession after possession. The Spartans didn't really have any bench contribution due to their matchup being more superior. This told Coach Schmidt to go with a shooter rotation, especially in the second half. After the timeout (11:30), the lead only increased from there. On several occasions the lead went up to 19, however, in the last five minutes, the Spartans made a 21-12 push to try to cut the lead. Martin Lakovic and Bryan Williams contributed to this run. Williams, who subbed in at the 7:53 minute mark, scored 10 points quickly off the bench. However, this wasn't enough to change the inevitable.  || Score: 84-75 (NSU)

INSIDE THE STATS

• Tampa; season-high 22 turnovers
• NSU Sunahara; 25 points, five rebs, four blocks
• NSU Smith; 16 points eight assists, two steals
• Felder; 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals

BEYOND THE BOX

• NSU Pts off TO's 20-15; fastbreak points 10-3
• NSU 11 steals on the game

UP NEXT: Tampa will face Lynn University on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m., in Boca Raton, FL.

GAMEDAY MULTIMEDIA: Fans may watch all home games and Sunshine State Conference contests on TampaSpartans.tv. Live stats are also available through TampaStats.com.

Follow UT Athletics: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagramand YouTube. 

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.