The Spartans Face Late-Game Struggles in Loss to Davenport

St. Petersburg, Fl. – The University of Tampa Spartans Men's Basketball team can not knock off Davenport in one of their most competitive basketball games in the early part of the season.

Final: Davenport Panthers 64, Tampa Spartans 58

Records: Tampa (1-4, 1-0 SSC), Davenport (1-4, 0-0 GLIAC)

Location: McArthur Center || St. Petersburg, Fl.

All-Time Series: The Panthers win their first-ever meeting over the Spartans.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

The Spartans and Panthers played some sloppy low scoring basketball in the first half. Turnovers and various scoreless runs by both teams made the first half very interesting. After the majority of the scoring for the Spartans came from Bryant Brown and Jonathan Bryant II the Spartans were down 17-14 with 4 minutes to go in the half. After a 4-0 scoring run and late free throws from Jacob Harris and Jesse White the Spartans grabbed a 3-point lead going into the half. || Score: 26-23 Spartans

SECOND HALF

The second half was a continuation of what was going on in the first half of the play. Small leads by each team never expanded to bigger leads and before you knew it there were only 5 minutes left in the game. The Spartans and Panthers both had a fair share of the small leads with both of the team's largest leads only being 4 points; however once there was 1 minute left in the game, Davenport didn't turn back and extended their 3-point lead to 7 and the Spartans didn't have the time to bounce back. After the Panthers hit late clutch free throws the game was over.  || Score: 72-63 Panthers

INSIDE THE STATS

• Three Spartans scored in double digits tonight: Junior Jacob Harris (18), Senior Jonathan Bryant II (12), and Sophomore Bryant Brown (10).
• The Spartans had 24 turnovers compared to the Panther's 12.
• Bryant Brown scored 10 points a recorded 5 rebounds off the bench.

BEYOND THE BOX

• Tampa struggled behind the arc going 1-14 while shooting 39%
• Davenport led 16-14 in bench points and Tampa led 32-24 in points in the paint.
• There were 11 ties and 18 lead changes throughout the whole game.

UP NEXT: Tampa will visit Florida Tech in Melbourne on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 pm. The Spartans hope to keep their undefeated conference record.

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