Men’s and Women’s Basketball to Face Eckerd College on Wednesday Night
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's basketball teams take on the Tritons in a midweek matchup.
WOMEN'S:
The Matchup: No. 25 University of Tampa Spartans (14-3, 11-0 SSC) vs. Eckerd Tritons (13-4, 9-2 SSC)
Date/Time: Wednesday, January 29th, at 5:30 pm.
Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla. | 400 N Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606
Series History: The Spartans have a commanding series lead 79-18. The longest winning streak for Tampa is 29 games. The Spartans are 40-8 at home versus Eckerd and have won the last three contests.
Last Time Out: No. 25 Tampa edged out Nova Southeastern 67-66 to remain perfect in the SSC. The Spartans ended the first half with a commanding 13 point lead, and won despite being outscored 19-11 in the fourth quarter. Dori Nagy had a career high 28 points versus the Sharks, and also added nine rebounds to lead Tampa. As a team, the Spartans shot an impressive 65.9% from the field on 29-44 shooting.
About the Spartans (Women): UT currently is undefeated in the Sunshine State Conference and is on a 12 game winning streak. Tampa leads the nation committing the least personal fouls per game with only 11.6. The Spartans also rank second in field-goal percentage in the NCAA shooting 50.5 percent. Individually, Nagy ranks ninth for defensive rebounds per game in the NCAA with 8.2. Nagy also ranks second in scoring in the SSC, leading Tampa with 16.6 points per game. LaShayla Wright-Ponder is second on the team with 14.8 points per game for a truly formidable frontcourt.
About the Tritons (Women): Eckerd ranks second in the SSC directly behind Tampa and is in the midst of a five-game win streak. The Tritons average 72.7 points per game while holding opponents to 61.1. Eckerd has four players averaging over 10 points per game (Octavia Loll, Abby Whiteye, Zoe Richards, and Mikayla Kuehne) along with Eneritz Larranaga averaging 9.9 per game. Eckerd is fourth in the NCAA in field-goal percentage shooting 49.5% from the field. In their last game the Tritons dominated Palm Beach Atlantic in a 102-53 victory.
MEN'S:
The Matchup: University of Tampa Spartans (5-14, 1-7 SSC) vs. Eckerd Tritons (7-12, 3-8 SSC)
Date/Time: Wednesday, January 29th at 7:30 pm.
Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla. | 400 N Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606
Series History: Tampa leads the all-time series 53-37. The Spartans are 32-15 at home versus Eckerd. The Spartans and Tritons have split the last two games, however, the Tritons have a 7-3 edge over the last ten competitions. On December 4, 2019, Eckerd narrowly defeated Tampa 63-61 in Saint Petersburg.
Last Time Out: Tampa was trounced by the No. 8 Nova Southeastern Sharks on Wednesday, losing 130-76. Tampa was led by 24 points from Pat Bacon. Martin Lakovic contributed 23 points for UT on 7-10 shooting. Nova Southeastern had four 20 plus point scorers, with three bench players scoring 20 plus. In 19 minutes of play, starting shooting guard Mark Matthews scored 20 points on 10-14 shooting and added seven rebounds and nine assists. As a team, the Sharks shot 65.5% from the field and 53.6% from three-point range.
About the Spartans (Men): The Spartans are led by point guard Pat Bacon. Bacon averages 22.6 points per game this season. Forward Martin Lakovic has been key for the Spartans in scoring, and has stepped-up for an injury-riddled frontcourt. Lakovic has scored at least 10 points over the last seven games. As a team, UT is shooting 43.6% from the field and 29.5% from deep. This season, the Spartans are 3-2 at the Martinez Athletics Center.
About the Tritons (Men): Eckerd has lost two straight close contests versus Saint Leo (79-77) and Palm Beach Atlantic (65-57). EC has lost eight of their last nine games, with a win coming at Rollins on January 18 (75-65). Eckerd is led in scoring by guard Travis Bianco scoring 17.2 per game. Bianco led the Tritons on Saturday versus PBA with 21 points in 38 minutes played. Bianco also averages 8.1 rebounds per game, second on the team behind Myron Hagins' 8.5. First-year head coach Bryan Galuski will look to right the ship for the Tritons.
Tickets: General admission ticket prices for all Tampa regular season athletic events are $5. Youth (ages 12 and under) are admitted free of charge. UT students and faculty/staff are admitted free with a valid Spartan ID.
Watch Live: Fans may watch the game through TampaSpartans.tv. Live stats are available through TampaStats.com.
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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 Tampa Spartans Front Row app to receive notifications from your favorite Spartan teams. The app is completely free.