Box Score LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern College men's basketball was unable to hold on to an early double-digit lead in an 80-70 loss to Sunshine State Conference rival Tampa on Friday at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins (4-9, 2-3 SSC) raced out to a 17-point lead, but the Spartans (10-3, 3-1) chipped away to trim the deficit to one point (35-34) at the half, and used a solid second-half shooting effort to earn the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern looked to be in total control early on, jumping out to a 21-4 lead with 12:17 to go in the first half. Tampa scored the first bucket of the game on the opening possession of the contest, but was held scoreless for the next five-plus minutes as the Mocs built their lead.
• The Spartans were able to us a number of small scoring runs to chip away at the deficit, pulling within nine points (35-26) with 3:42 to go, and would hold the Mocs scoreless over the final 4:05 of the half to go into the locker room down 35-34.
• Tampa took its first lead of the game on the opening possession of the second half, and held Florida Southern without a point until Jack Rauch scored with 16:08 to go in the final period. The Spartans were able to build a 10-point lead during that stretch, and would never trail again.
• Florida Southern's deficit hovered around 10 points for most of the second half, but the Mocs were able to cut Tampa's lead just four points (68-64) with 2:12 to play, but the Spartans hung on for their first win in Lakeland since 2008.
• Tampa shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the second half while limiting the Mocs to just 39.3 percent (11-of-28) over the final 20 minutes of play.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern fell to 90-53 all-time against Tampa. The Mocs also fell to 886-330 all-time in home games, including 697-187 at Jenkins Field House.
• Friday's loss snapped a five-game winnng streak against Tampa, and also snapped an eight-game home winning streak against the Spartans.
• Tyler Ross led the Moccasins with 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Jarel Spellman notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Jeremiah Davis (13), Brett Hanson (12), and LaBrian Shiflet (11) also scored in double figures.
• Spellman recorded three blocks in the game to push his career total to 122, good for fifth in school history. He needs 41 more blocks to break Christophe Humbert's school record of 162.
• The Moccasins shot 44.6 pecent (25-of-56) on the night, while Tampa connected on 48.3 percent (28-of-58) of its shots. The Spartans finished with a 38-33 edge in rebounds, and both teams committed 14 turnovers.
• Tampa outscored Florida Southern 34-30 in the paint, 13-12 off turnovers, and 8-2 on the fast break. The Mocs finished with an 11-10 edge in second-chance points.
UP NEXT
• The Moccasins play back-to-back conference games at Lynn (Jan. 4) and Nova Southeastern (Jan. 7). Florida Southern returns home on Jan. 11 against Florida Tech.
