Tritons Bounce Back, Knock Off No. 19 Tampa

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It didn't take long for the Eckerd men's basketball team to put another notch in the win column after seeing its 10-game streak broken on Saturday.

The Tritons raced out to an early lead, then held off a late rally to defeat No. 19 Tampa on Wednesday, 81-71, in the McArthur Center.

Drushaun McLaurn posted his third straight double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds to help lead Eckerd (12-3, 5-2 SSC) into a tie for second place in the Sunshine State Conference with the win over its bay area rival.

After Tampa took a quick 6-2 lead, the Tritons rolled off 11 straight points to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the game.  Back-to-back steals and dunks by Shane Phillips and McLaurn highlighted the run, and Eckerd soon pushed its lead to 14 points after a Kevin Walsh 3-pointer with 8:37 left in the first half.

The Spartans (12-4, 5-2 SSC) pulled back within eight at halftime and scored the first basket of the second half to cut the Eckerd lead to six, but the Tritons answered with a 13-4 run to take a 49-34 lead following an Admir Radoncic layup.

Eckerd's cushion hovered around 15 points for the next several minutes before making seven consecutive free throws - including five in one possession - as part of a 10-2 run that saw the lead grow to 63-41 with nine minutes to play.

Tampa, however, made things less comfortable after 11 unanswered points that featured three consecutive 3-pointers, quickly slicing the Eckerd lead down to nine with 5:31 remaining.

A traditional 3-point play by UT's Austin Rettig made it an eight-point game a minute later, but the Tritons closed the door with an acrobatic layup by McLaurn followed by a 3-pointer from Walsh.  EC held a double-digit lead for the rest of the night.

After a cleanly-played first half, the final 20 minutes were marred by physical play as the two teams were whistled for a combined 37 fouls and shot a combined 55 free throws.

In addition to McLaurn's game-high 24 points, three other Tritons - Obi Kyei (17), Trevon Young (13) and Kevin Walsh (12) reached double figures in scoring.

The win ties Eckerd for second place in the SSC with Tampa, both 1.5 games behind No. 5 Barry.

The Tritons travel to Florida Southern on Saturday for a 7:00 PM tipoff.