Tampa Shoots Past Florida Tech In SSC Quarters

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (22-6) men's basketball team cruised to a 91-73 victory over Florida Tech (19-12) in the opening round of the BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Wednesday at the Bob Martinez Sports Center.

The Spartans enjoyed a near-record setting night from beyond the arc as it connected on 15 3-pointers while shooting 75.0 percent from long range. The display marked the third time in program history that UT has made 15-plus 3-pointers as it was the second-best percentage among single game program highs for Tampa.

Head coach Richard Schmidt's team never trailed as the legendary coach moved closer to his 600th career victory. Schmidt now stands at 598 victories in his 30 years of collegiate coaching.

After taking a 38-30 advantage to the half, the Spartans stretched the advantage to 57-39 with 14:14 remaining in regulations. Tampa would lead by as many as 20 points as a late Florida Tech rally that cut the UT lead to nine points was quickly put to rest as Fred Woods slammed down an alley-oop courtesy of Rashad Callaway to give UT a 12-point margin with 3:23 to play.

Callaway, an SSC Player of the Year candidate, finished with a game-high 33 points to go with 12 assists. He connected on 11-for-12 from the free throw line and also drained 6-of-8 from 3-point range. The senior guard also had a pair of steals in his final game at the Martinez Center.

Fellow senior Glyn Hunter added 13 points while connecting on all three long-range attempts. Hunter also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Callum Townsend and Fred Woods provided a spark off the bench with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Spartans will play in the SSC semifinals on Saturday versus regular-season champion Rollins College at 7:30 p.m. The game will be played in Melbourne, Fla., as Florida Tech will serve as the tournament host.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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