Spartans Unable to Come Back Against Tars in Weekend Competition

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Rollins College Tars men's basketball team pulled away from Tampa late in the second half to secure the home victory.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: Rollins 87, Tampa 74 

Records: University of Tampa Spartans (6-15, 3-10 SSC), Rollins College Tars (11-9, 5-7 SSC)

Location: Warner Arena || Winter Park, Fla.

All-Time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series 67-38. Rollins is 6-4 in the last ten meetings.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half | The game opened up with Rollins getting on the board first with a mid-range jumper. The Spartans first six points came off two three-pointers by two of Tampa's leading scorers, Pat Bacon and Martin Lakovic. Early on, the Spartans went on a small 5-0 run led by Derrick Felder. Senior guard Bacon led all players with 13 points, six of which came from the free throw line. Tampa ended the half shooting 65% on 11-17 from the field. They also shot 100 percent from the free-throw line, shooting 10-10. The bench contributed nine points. Gio Diaz had six of those nine points, shooting 2-3 from 3-point land. || Rollins 39, Tampa 38

2nd Half | To begin the second half, Brent Duncan got the scoring going for Tampa with a layup inside, securing his first points of the game. Bacon and Lakovic continued their decent shooting from the first half, both scoring double digit figures in the second half alone. Most of Tampa's points still came from the free throw line, scoring 10 points. Rollins held the lead for the majority of the half with Lakovic trying to keep the Spartans close behind with a few highlight dunks. Even though Tampa led the Tars in rebounds, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage, they couldn't hang on towards the end of the game. The Tars finished the game on a 6-0 run and up by 13. || Rollins 87, Tampa 74

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Pat Bacon led the team in scoring with 24 points on 5-of-11 from the field. The senior added seven rebounds, six assists, and converted a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe.
• Martin Lakovic finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 from the field and added six rebounds.
• Tampa went 20-for-25 from the free-throw line at an 80 percent clip. 
• Tampa finished with 27 total rebounds compared to the 24 Rollins put up.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Pat Bacon has scored double-digits in every single game this year.
• Martin Lakovic has scored double-digits in four of his last five games.

UP NEXT: The Spartans travel back to the Martinez Center to play St. Leo on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:30 pm.

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