The UTampa men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season with freshman Trojan Rashawn Inglemon scoring 36 points.
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By Terry Hunsicker
TAMPA, Fla. — The University of Tampa men’s basketball team experienced its first loss of the season on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, losing 93-67 to the Anderson University Trojans. The Spartans moved to 2-1 on the season following the loss.
Freshman guard Rashawn Inglemon scored 36 points for the Trojans, hitting 10 three-pointers and recording four rebounds across 35 minutes on the court. Inglemon said he thought the rim looked bigger during the game.
“Probably fit two, three basketballs in there,” said Inglemon. “Every time you let it go, it just goes good.”
Before the game, UTampa head coach Linc Darner said the Trojans would be a good opponent to face before the Spartans’ Saturday conference opener against the No. 1 Nova Southeastern University Sharks because the Trojans are a good team themselves.
“This is good for us to see how we execute and how we deal with this. This will be a good game to get us ready,” said Darner.
The Spartans and Trojans remained even through much of the first half, trading scores. With 11:02 left in the first half, the Spartans led 24-22 on a free throw by B.J. Schaeffer, a sophomore guard.
The Trojans went on a 10-0 run to make the game 32-24, spurred on by quick turnovers by the Spartans. Anderson never relinquished the lead they gained during that stretch.
Anderson University head coach Jimmie Williams said the Trojans wanted to dictate how the game was played.
“We want to dictate our pace, make them have to react to us and not the other way around,” said Williams.
The Spartans only trailed by five at the end of the first half, the score being 50-45. Ryan Blount, sophomore guard, led the Spartans with 12 points in the first half. The Spartans kept the game close for much of the second half but failed to ever retake the lead.
With 6:52 left in the game, the Spartans trailed by nine points. Just four minutes later, the Spartans trailed by 18 with 2:59 left to play. Blount finished the game with 17 points, still leading the team for the day.
Spartans head coach Linc Darner said the team needs to become better at scoring. The Spartans completed the game having gone 25-62 on field goal attempts, while missing 8 free throw attempts.
“Until we can start finishing at the rim, we’re going to probably struggle all year,” said Darner. “If we can make layups and we can make free throws, you know, we’ll be okay.”
The Spartans were effective shooting three-pointers from the corners during the first half, going 5-8 on 3-point shots. During the second half, they only scored one 3-pointer. They finished the game having gone 6-21 on 3-point attempts.
The Spartans are already missing six players due to injuries, according to Darner. Darner said these injuries included some during the preseason, some during practice, and even freak accidents. Three different Spartans played 31 of the 40 minutes in the game against the Anderson Trojans.
Darner said he has never coached a team missing six players at the same time and said they have to break a curse placed over the team.
“We’ve got to get some sage and walk around in the gym,” said Darner. “Do a little dance or something to get the demons out of here to make layups and that.”