Spartans End Season With Close Loss at NCAA South Regional

Box score

LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa (20-10) men's basketball team came out on the wrong side of a battle with the University of North Alabama (23-9) in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA South Regional, falling 72-68 at Jenkins Fieldhouse.

Tampa led for the entire first half, extending its margin to as many as 13 points before UNA closed out the half on a 7-0 run. The Spartans would take a 31-25 lead to the break.

Eric Moraes scored a team-high nine points in the first half, with fellow senior Ryan Kidd chipping in eight. Moraes also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds in the first half as UT shot 41.7 percent from the field compared to 30 percent from its opponent in the opening half.

The Lions would claw themselves back into the game in the second half, grabbing their first lead at 44-43 with just under 12-minutes to play. UNA would never relinquish the lead, though the Spartans would come as close as one point on several occasions.

Trailing 70-67 with 21 seconds remaining in regulation, the Spartans would miss a total of three long-range shots, each of which they followed with an offensive rebound. Jordan Davis would eventually be fouled, and after making the first and purposely missing the second, UNA came away with the ball.

The Lions proceeded to make both free throws, putting the game out of reach and ending a highly successful Spartan season that resulted in 20 wins for head coach Richard Schmidt's group.

"I am extremely proud of this group, and the way they fought and hustled all season," says head coach Richard Schmidt. "Regardless of injuries, or other team losses, this group always stayed together and played hard. This is a great group of guys."

Moraes led the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds, both team highs. Foster would add 15 as Jordan Davis tallied 11 points to go with a team-high five assists.

It was an evenly played game, with UNA shooting 41.7 percent from the field compared to 35.8 percent for UT. The Spartans did outrebound the Lions 45-38, though Tampa also committed five more turnovers than their opponent. Both teams were dismal from the free throw line, with Tampa missing 14 and UNA 11 from the charity stripe.

Please visit TampaSpartans.com for complete information on UT men's basketball.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.