FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The University of Tampa men’s basketball team suffered a huge defeat by 8^th ranked Nova Southeastern University.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: Nova Southeastern 130, Tampa 76

Records: University of Tampa Spartans (5-14, 2-9 SSC), Nova Southeastern University Sharks (15-2, 9-2 SSC)

Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

All-Time Series: Tampa still trails in the all-time series 19-23 with the last ten being 3-8. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half | Starting in his fourth game of the season, Gio Diaz was the first Spartan to put points on the board. Following right behind was Pat Bacon, the team’s leading scorer. With only two minutes off the clock, Nova jump-started a 7-0 scoring run that consisted of a dunk and a three pointer. At the 13^th minute mark, the Sharks had already knocked down five three pointers. Nova had another huge 24-0 run as Tampa went on a scoring drought for five minutes, while committing eleven turnovers during that time. Bacon broke the Sharks run and converted on an and-one play. Nova returned to their end of the court and converted on two back-to-back and-one plays and that gave them their biggest lead of the game at 40. Martin Lakovic tried to help the Spartans back into the game as he executed on consecutive highlight plays for the remainder of the half. Tampa was shooting a decent 46 percent from the field, however their 20 turnovers were not in their favor.  || Nova 75, Tampa 32

2nd Half |Bacon opened the second half with his 11^th point of the game. Lakovic came back knocking down a jumper of his own. That basket gave him his 17^th point which was a new career high. Tampa’s defense started to get hot as they forced Nova to go on a four-minute scoring drought. Bacon‘s three-point game started to fall and he was doing the best of his ability to will the Spartans to a soft blow. The remainder of the game was all Bacon and Lakovic, as they both finished with 20+ points each. When Tampa’s bench came into the game, Jacob Harris was the main scorer and finished with 14 points. || Nova 130, Tampa 76

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Pat Bacon was the leading scorer with 24 points. 
• Martin Lakovic was the second leading scorer with 23 points and six rebounds.
• Jacob Harris also scored in double-digit figures with 14 points. He was the only player that played all 40 minutes. 
• Tampa finished shooting 46 percent from the field and 69 percent from the charity strike. 

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Martin Lakovic scored a new season-high with his 23 points.
• Pat Bacon has scored 20+ points in 13 games in the season and totaled 400+ on the season.
• Justin Anderson,a new add-on, played in his first game as a Spartans and converted on one basket.

UP NEXT: The Spartans will return to their home court in Tampa to compete against Eckerd College on Jan. 29, at 7:30 PM.

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

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