Tampa Defeated By Rollins In SSC Semis

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The University of Tampa (22-7) men's basketball team came up short in a 67-62 decision versus Rollins College (24-6) in the semifinals of the BlueCross and Blue Shield of Florida SSC Tournament on Saturday at the Clemente Center on the campus of host Florida Tech.

The Spartans came out blazing, taking a 14-3 lead just under five minutes into the game. With a 24-13 lead, UT was forced in the following possession to replace leading scorer Rashad Callaway as he picked up his second personal. The Tars proceeded to close out the half on a 20-3 run to carry a 33-27 advantage to halftime.

Rollins stretched its lead to 48-33 in the second half before the Spartans came alive. Down 15 with 13:34 to play, Tampa needed just six minutes to erase the Tars lead and grab a 54-53 lead with 7:24 to go in regulation.

UT then built a 62-57 advantage with just over five minutes on the clock. The Tars then showed why they won the SSC regular season title as it proceeded to outscore UT 10-0 in the final 4:36.

Anthony Griffis led all Spartans with 23 points as the junior connected on 10-of-14 from the field. Griffis also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Callaway added 17 points to go with six assists.

With the victory, Rollins advanced to Sunday's SSC championship game versus Eckerd at 3:30 p.m. The winner will receive the SSC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Tampa will now await work on its NCAA South Regional fate as the pairing will be announced on Sunday on NCAA.com.

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