Tyson Leitao Takes Over In Final Minutes, Spartans Beat Lions On The Road

Saint Leo, Fla – The University of Tampa Men's Basketball team traveled to nearby Saint Leo University for their first away game in Sunshine State Conference play. The Spartans were looking to snap a streak of five straight losses to the Lions and get their first win in SSC play. Like most conference games in the Sunshine State, this contest came down to the last few possessions. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: #23 Tampa 90, Saint Leo 87

Records: Tampa 7-1 (1-1 SSC), Saint Leo 4-5 (1-2 SSC)

Location: Marion Bowman Activities Center I Saint Leo, Fla

All-time series: This was the 93rd meeting all-time between these programs, Tampa extends their all-time series lead to 63-29.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

FIRST HALF: Like most games so far this season, tonight's contest started fast with Tampa coming out in thier high energy press looking to get going. Amarion Nimmers opened the scoring by drilling a three and before the Lions blinked, the Spartan press had coverted two bad shots and a turnover to take a quick 7-0 lead. Saint Leo finally gott on the board and started to adjust to the pace of the game. After some back and forth the Spartans went on on another run and extend the lead out to 17-6 by the Under 16 media timeout. Saint Leo - not wanting to let the game get out of hand early - came out of stoppage with some adjustments which worked in their favor. The Lions responded to the Spartan runs with one of their own and after hitting multiple deep threes, turned the 11 point deficit to just one point with ten minutes left in the half (21-20). Both teams traded buckets until the Lions went on another run to take their first multi-possession of the game. Saint Leo was able to maintain this lead for a few minutes until Ryan Blount hit a big three to tie the game at 33 with just under four minutes to play in the first. The two teams grinded out the last few minutes of the half but Saint Leo hit two big shots at the end of the half to take a four point lead into the break. 

Score: #23 Tampa 39, Saint Leo 43

SECOND HALF: Despite the Spartans offense putting up over 50 points in the second half, the Lions would not make a four point comeback as easy as it sounds. To start the second half, Ryan Blount made a three point jumper from the wing to pull the Spartans within one. Saint Leo answered with three straight buckets to push their lead out to 50-42. Five different Spartans recorded a basket as Tampa went from down eight to only down three after a Kaden Froebe layup at the 14 minute mark. Over the next few minutes, Saint Leo regained their offensive momentum and with under ten minutes to play had extended the lead to double digits (68-58). Down by 10, the Spartans needed someone to provide a spark on the defensive end, Ian Higdon stepped up and took over defesively. After being checked in, Higdon pressed the Lions best shooter the entire length of the court to hold him scoreless for almost every minutes of gametime he recorded as the Spartans engaged in another comeback effort. A combination of buckets from Ryan Blount and Tyson Leitao, followed by Ian Higdon getting to the line after snagging an offensive rebound helped Tampa erase the deficit. With 6:40 left to play, Tampa was only behind 76-74 with the momentum back on their side. After some Lions free throws, Tyson Leitao decided to call game himslef and started a four minute reign of terror. The senior scored 11 straight points for the Spartans while also rebounding the basketball on both ends. With the 11 point run from Leitoa plus strong defense from Ian Higdon and Trey Lane (2 steals final 3:25 of game), Tampa retook the lead and led 88-84 with under a minute to go. Saint Leo made it interesting with a late three, but the #23 team in the country would knock down their free throws and head home with a win.  

Final: #23 Tampa 90, Saint Leo 87

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Five Spartans recorded 10+ points 

• Amarion Nimmers drops 24 points - third straight game with 20+. 

• Trey Lane (5) and Ian Higdon (2) combined for 7 total steals 

• With today's win, Head Coach Linc Darner is one win away from 400 career wins

UP NEXT: The Spartans will come back home and have a week to prepare before taking on Lynn University at the Bob Martinez Center. This contest will take place on December 14th at 4:00pm. 

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