Tampa Falls Late to Rollins

Tampa, Fla. – The University of Tampa Spartans Men's Basketball team falls at home to their SSC rival Rollins.

Final: Rollins Tars 71, Tampa Spartans 66

Records: Tampa (5-8, 4-3 SSC), Rollins (6-8, 3-4 SSC)

Location: Bob Martinez Athletic Center || Tampa, Fl.

All-Time Series: The Spartans drop a game on their still impressive all-time record against the Tars, 69-39.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

The first half of the game was all Tampa for the most part, while offense was hard to come by for both teams, Tampa's defense held Rollins to only 2 points for the first 8 minutes of play. Although the Spartans led by as many as 12 with 7 minutes left to play in the first half, they struggled offensively and especially from 3, by only shooting 2-17 from behind the arc. De'Andre Harvey was an exception from the scoring problems, as he contributed 9 points off the bench in the first half to lead all scorers. | Score: 30-25 Spartans.

SECOND HALF

In the second half, Tampa began to shoot the ball from behind the arc better than they had in the first 20 minutes, but Rollins kept clawing their way back slowly. With about 5:33 left to play, Rollins claimed their first lead of the game and never looked back. The Tars went up by as many as 6, and while Tampa made one final push and brought the deficit to within 2 with a minute left to play, the comeback stalled and took the disappointing loss. | Score: 71-66 Tars.

INSIDE THE STATS

• Jesse White led the Spartans with 15 points.
• Yarden Willis grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds.
• Mykah Brown scored all 13 of his points in the second half.

BEYOND THE BOX

• The Spartans collected 15 offensive rebounds and turned them into 12 second-chance points.
• The Spartans did not trail for the first 35 minutes of action but did not take back the lead during the final 5 minutes.
• Rollins took advantage of Tampa's foul trouble in the second half, by outscoring the Spartans from the stripe 13-4.

UP NEXT: The Spartans will look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 11^th, at 7:30 PM when they travel on the road to Fort Lauderdale to take on Nova Southeastern.

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