The men’s basketball team spent plenty of time over winter break on the court, playing nine regular season games and coming away with five wins.
Of the five wins, three were valuable conference victories against Eckerd, Saint Leo and Barry.
‘As is, we’re struggling a little bit,’ admitted coach Richard Schmidt. ‘I don’t think we’ve played up to our ability yet, hopefully we can keep getting better. That’s the goal, to be the best you can be at the end of the season, not at the beginning.’
The Spartans faced a tough schedule with five in-conference games, but three wins were not enough for the team to be satisfied.’
‘The league is very strong, there’s a lot of good teams in the league and even the teams like Barry that have lost a lot of games are very good,’ explained Schmidt.
One of the difficult losses for the Spartans came in Winter Park against Rollins. Tampa was down by 12 at the end of the first half but came out with a charge after the intermission, scoring in the second half and pushing the game into overtime.
Unfortunately, the spark in the second half could not lift the Spartans to a victory, and Rollins held on to win 70-64.
‘We had the last shot to win it, if we make that shot, things look pretty good for us right now,’ said Schmidt, referring to a missed shot that ultimately led to the overtime loss against the Tars.
The men returned home and bounced back to beat Saint Leo 70-52. Three Spartans scored in double figures to lead the team over the Lions. Rashad Callaway had 23 points, Anthony LaBruno had 18, and Fred Woods added 10.
The Spartans held on once more at home on Jan. 17 against Barry, winning 70-61 and helping them to a record of 9-5 (3-2 SSC).
At just over the halfway mark in the regular season, UT still has plenty of challenges to face in the future.
They continue to get better every day and push towards excellence, but that is no easy task when facing the teams at this level, Schmidt explained.
‘You have to really be on your toes every night,’ he said.
Olivia Glynn can be reached at oglynn@ut.edu.
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