TAMPA, Fla. - Lynn University men's basketball pulled away in the closing minutes to defeat Tampa, 93-85, Wednesday night. Tradavis Thompson led all scorers with 23 points and Nordin Kapic notched his third consecutive double-double with 21 points and 18 rebounds.
The Fighting Knights are now 14-7, 9-6 in the conference and the Spartans are 7-17, 3-13 in the SSC.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lynn asserted dominance at the onset of the half, securing the first five points and embarking on a 10-5 run
- The Fighting Knights surrendered their lead for the first time at the 16:50 mark, following a three-pointer from the Spartans, nudging the score to 11-10
- In a swift response, Thompson's layup reclaimed the lead at 12-11
- With under 13 minutes remaining, Lynn orchestrated a commanding 6-0 run, catapulting them to their largest lead of the game at 11 points, with the scoreboard reading 29-18
- Momentum shifted as the Spartans mounted a 13-point surge, snatching the lead at 32-29
- A two-point jumper from Jalen Gilmore narrowed the gap to 38-37 with five minutes left in the first half
- The first half concluded in a flurry of back-and-forth scoring, with Jamison Evans capping it off with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, knotting the game at 50-50
- Lynn shot 49 percent (18-37) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-13) from the three-point range, while the Spartans equaled from the field at 49 percent (17-35) and 43 percent (9-21) from the arc
-Thompson broke the tie with a two-point jumper off a Spartan turnover in the opening minute of the half
- Lynn had a minor setback with less than 12 minutes left, allowing a five-point run in favor of Tampa with the score 68-63
- However, the Fighting Knights quickly recovered the deficit and replied with an eight-point run, regaining the lead, 73-68
- Kapic capitalized from a fastbreak with a layup to extend the advantage, 79-75, with less than eight minutes left in the game
- The score was tied at 83 with four minutes left in regulation
-Thompson scored seven consecutive points in the closing minutes of the game to lead the Fighting Knights on an 8-2 run and take the 93-85 victory
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Thompson has scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games
- Kapic grabbed 18 rebounds for the second consecutive game and leads the SSC with 20.0 points per game
- Four out of five of Lynn's starters scored more than 10 points
- Jamison Evans knocked down three triples and scored 15 points
- Ben Gahlert added 10 points with seven rebounds
- The Fighting Knights shot 85% (22-26) from the charity stripe and outrebounded Tampa 47-33
- Lynn set a season high with 11 steals
UP NEXT:
- Lynn heads back to Boca Raton for a home game against Florida Southern on Saturday Feb. 17 at 4:00 pm
