Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -
John Harper scored 18 points, two of which came on two free throws with four seconds left in overtime to force a second overtime period, to help lead the Eckerd Tritons (16-8, 9-5 SSC) past the Lynn Fighting Knights (13-12, 7-7 SSC), 85-82, in front of a season-high 1,059 spent fans at the McArthur Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Tritons found themselves down early, trailing 13-4 to open the game. Down 28-19 with 5:58 left, Eckerd would finish the half strong, going on 9-0 run, tying the game on a three by Harper with 2:32 to go. The Tritons would trail at the half, 34-32.
In a second half that featured seven ties and five lead changes, neither team led by any more than four points until Lynn's Chris Hall expanded Lynn's lead to 64-58 with 3:37 to go. On the next possession,
Zaronn Cann made the first of numerous game-saving shots by the Tritons, hitting a three-pointer to make it 64-61 with 3:19 left. With 1:46 left, Harper would hit another three, trimming the Knights' lead to 66-65.
After a defensive stop, Eckerd took a timeout with 29 seconds to go, down by a point. On the ensuing inbound play,
Woody Taylor hit
Lance Kearse with a lob pass that would give the Tritons a 67-66 lead with 26 ticks left. Then, after Hall's shot was swatted by Cann, Lynn guard Rodney Kennedy was fouled while chasing the loose ball and would go one-for-two at the line to send the game into OT.
In the first overtime, Eckerd jumped out to a 70-67 lead but Hall would give Lynn a 74-72 lead with 1:02 to go. Ahead 74-72, Hall would take a three for the win with but miss it before fouling Harper, setting up his game-tying free throws with four seconds left.
In double overtime, a Taylor layup followed by a Harper three gave the Tritons a 79-74 lead with 2:39 to go. Eckerd would maintain that five-point lead throughout the majority of the period before settling for the three-point victory after giving up a layup to Brandon Kennedy at the buzzer.
For the game, Eckerd out-shot Lynn 47.5 percent to 34.4 percent from the field. Lynn out-rebounded the Tritons 45-39 while grabbing 20 offensive rebounds.
Kearse scored 15 points while Cann added 14. Hall led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
Eckerd will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 24 as it hosts Saint Leo at 7:30pm at the McArthur Center.
