Spartans Blowout Berry in Daytona Beach Shootout Finale
Dec 19, 2017
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of Dubuque men’s basketball team closed out the Daytona Beach Shootout with an 86-70 victory over the Berry College Vikings. The win secured a 2-0 trip in Daytona Beach.
TJ Lake scored on a layup in the first 16 seconds of the game and the Spartans never looked back, building a 10 point lead before the game was even five minutes old. In a dominant first half for the Spartans, UD attempted 40 field goals, while limiting Berry to just 16 field goal attempts in the half. The disparity was caused by the Spartans grabbing 10 offensive rebounds and forcing Berry into eight first half turnovers.
The UD lead would grow to as many as 23 points in the second half and eventually get chipped down to as few as 11 points with 7:45 remaining but the Spartans would not let it get any closer than that. Jamaree Atwater led the Spartans with 24 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Atwater also collected 10 rebounds for a double-double. After a big scoring performance last night, TJ Lake had another solid showing on Tuesday night, scoring 21 points on 8-16 shooting. Marcus McDaniel, Justin Smith and Deonte Newsome each pitched in seven points.
As a team the Spartans shot 42.4% from the field (28-66) while limiting Berry to 32.7% (18-55) from the field. Both teams were able to force their way to the free throw line in the game as there was a combined 80 free throws attempted. The Spartans converted 23 of 34 from the charity stripe while Berry struggled from the line, making 21 of 46. UD dominated on the glass, outrebounding Berry 54-41.
The Spartans will be off until they host crosstown foe, Clarke, on December 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the Stoltz Sports Center.
