Balanced Effort Leads Tampa to Win in Season Opener

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (1-0) men's basketball team survived an early deficit and dominated the second half to notch an 85-74 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic University (1-3) in its 2012-13 season opener at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

While trailing by as many as nine points in the first half, the Spartans finished the half on a 10-2 run as the game was knotted at 35-35 at the half.

The Spartans came out of the half blazing as they went on an 11-0 run grab control of the game. The lead swelled to as many as 21 points as PBAU was unable to come back from an 80-59 hole with 2:30 to play.

Senior Callum Townsend came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points for Tampa as freshman Austin Rettig added 12 off the bench in his first collegiate performance. Vincent Cornu added 13 while Stefon Barfield turned in 12 points for head coach Richard Schmidt's squad.

Anthony Griffis grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds as the Spartans outboarded the Sailfish 38-26. Jon Riles led the team with nine assists and two steals, as Eric Moraes also turned in a pair of steals.

UT shot 52.9 percent from the field, also connecting on eight from long-range. Palm Beach Atlantic was held to 40.7 percent from the floor.

The Spartans return to the court on Tuesday, as they play host to Southeastern University, Fla. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live stats and a video webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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