Walsh's Career Effort Not Enough as Tritons Fall in SSC Opener

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - For the second straight game, the Eckerd men's basketball team saw a double-digit lead in the second half slip away and turn into a narrow defeat after the Tritons fell to Florida Tech on Wednesday night, 86-84, to open Sunshine State Conference play.

A 3-point barrage helped extend Eckerd's lead to 15 points on three occasions, the last coming with 13:12 left to play after Keshawn Ingram drained EC's fourth 3-pointer of the half.

But the perimeter shots stopped falling for the Tritons after Ingram's basket, and Florida Tech quickly began to cut into the Eckerd lead.

Eckerd made just one of its next 10 shots and turned the ball over five times as FIT outscored the Tritons 28-3 over an eight-minute stretch, taking a 72-62 lead with 4:27 remaining.

"We needed to move the ball around more and be patient," EC head coach Tom Ryan said.  "We tried too much to get our own shots instead of making them play defense." 

The Tritons, however, didn't go away easily, getting a spark off the bench from Blake Morrow.  The freshman scored 13 points in the final five minutes of the game and helped EC pull back within a point with three seconds left following a 3-pointer from the right corner.

Eckerd fouled on the inbounds pass, putting Rafael Casanova at the line with 1.5 seconds left.  After making the first, he missed the second but the rebound was tipped. By the time Obi Kyei pulled it in, the Tritons had no time to advance the ball and get a shot.

The loss negated another strong performance in the first half and early in the second for Eckerd, which took a 44-37 lead into halftime before going on a 12-3 run to build a 15-point lead five minutes into the second half.

Both teams came out hot from the start, making three 3's each in the first four minutes.  The shooting continued throughout the half as each team knocked down seven 3-pointers before the break.

FIT rediscovered its hot hand midway through the second half, making 12 of its last 17 shots including six 3-pointers.

Eckerd still had a chance down the stretch due to turnovers and missed free throws by the Panthers, but couldn't finish closing the gap.

"We knew we would be lacking some maturity and leadership early in the season," said Ryan.  "We have to be disciplined enough to stay the course and make it through the whole game.  It's a different role for some of our guys.  There's more to being a leader than just scoring all the points."

Kevin Walsh set new career highs in the loss with 22 points and seven 3-pointers.  Drushaun McLaurn added 19 points.  FIT's Jordan Majors scored 35 points, including 20 in the second half.

The Tritons hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday, visiting Embry-Riddle for a 7:00 PM tipoff in Daytona Beach.