Box Score TAMPA, Fla. - The 2015-16 men's basketball season has been one for the record books, but a recent slump has haunted the Tritons throughout the second half of the Sunshine State Conference schedule.
The trend continued on Saturday with a 65-52 loss at the University of Tampa.
The teams first squared off this season on December 5 inside the McArthur Center where Eckerd (18-5, 9-3 SSC) handled Tampa, 81-58. During that meeting, the Spartans were limited to 32.8 percent shooting from the field while Eckerd out-shot them with a 43.9 percent performance. However, roles were reversed this afternoon on the other side of the bay as Tampa (7-14, 3-8 SSC) shot 45.6 percent compared to the Tritons' 30.9 percent. Both the field goal percentage and points scored were season-lows for Eckerd.
Despite the scoring woes, the Tritons did manage to outrebound the Spartans with a 42-34 advantage, but it was not enough to make up for the 16 turnovers while only forcing nine. Tampa's 44-18 advantage on points in the paint proved to be essential as it prevented the Tritons of being able to stretch the defense out and make it guess how the Tritons would strike as they have all season.
Eckerd was led by
E.J. Moody in scoring with 12 points while
Kevin Walsh followed with 10. The two players were responsible for a pair of 3-pointers each and were the only Tritons to hit from deep. Duke Shelton led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting inside the arc. Pat Bacon followed with 14 points, Austin Retting with 13, and Jaylen Taylor added 12 points.
The loss marked the first time all season Eckerd has lost consecutive games and drops the team out of first place in the SSC, a half-game behind Barry who did not play a conference opponent today.
Eckerd's next contest is on Wednesday, February 10, inside the McArthur Center when the Tritons will play host to the Embry-Riddle Eagles, the team who snapped Eckerd's record-breaking 16-game winning streak. The rematch is set to tip-off at 7:30 pm following the women's contest.
