Tampa Republic

 The University of Tampa Spartans Men's Basketball falls to the top SSC team and nation's No. 2 squad. 

Final: Nova Southeastern Sharks 113, Tampa Spartans 69

Records: Tampa (5-9, 4-4 SSC), Nova Southeastern Sharks (15-0, 8-0 SSC)

Location: Rick Case Arena|| Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 

All-Time Series: Nova Southeastern extends its all-time series record against Tampa to 25-19. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

FIRST HALF 

After a Jesse White opening basket, the Sharks responded with an 8-0 run. The Spartans then cut the lead to 1 with 12 minutes remaining in half with Tyson Leitao leading the way with 7 points. The Sharks, however, returned the favor and went on a 13-0 run to lead by 14 with under 7 minutes remaining in half. After 2 made free throws by Jonathan Bryant II the Sharks went on a 9-0 run in 1 minute to extend their lead to 21. After some back-and-forth hoops, Nova went into the half-up by 25. || Score: 60-35 Sharks

SECOND HALF 

After the first 8 minutes of the second half of basketball was at a standstill, the Sharks eventually extended their lead to 30. The Sharks were just pouring it on and extended their lead to 45 up 105-60. The Sharks ended up winning big. || Score: 113-69 Sharks

INSIDE THE STATS 

• Three Spartans scored in double figures: Senior Mykah Brown (19), Sophomore Tyson Leitao (14), and Senior Jonathan Bryant II (10). 
• The Spartans had 24 turnovers compared to the Sharks' 12. 
• Tyson Leitao finished with a double-double, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

BEYOND THE BOX

• The Spartans led for 15 seconds.
• The Sharks shot 56% from the field compared to Tampa's 41%.
• The Spartans made 21 free throws compared to the Sharks' 16.

UP NEXT: The Spartans look the snap the 2-game skid when they host Eckerd on Saturday, January 14th, at 4:00 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. Follow UT Athletics: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. 

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com. 

Front Row: Download the official app of UT Athletics on the Apple or Android store. Look for the Tampa Spartans Front Row app to receive notifications from your favorite Spartan teams. The app is completely free. 

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

Original source can be found here.