ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Forward Junius Chaney muscled his way to 10 of his team's 14 points in overtime and Shaw (N.C.) University dealt the Eckerd College men's basketball team its first loss of the season to close the EC Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday night, 78-73.
Chaney flushed down a two-handed dunk and was perfect on four free throws in the extra frame, including converting a pair at the line with 9.3 seconds left on the clock to seal the game.
Malik Alvin netted a game-high 24 on an array of high-arcing rainbow shots from all spots on the court and Tony Smith hit four three-pointers on his way to 23 for the Bears (4-1 overall), who toppled the University of Tampa by a 20-point margin on Friday night.
The Tritons (3-1, 0-0 SSC) had their three-game win streak halted to begin the season.
Lance Kearse led five Tritons in double-figures, scoring 20.
Darrien Mack scored 14,
Wayne Sears Jr. added 12,
Woody Taylor scored five straight in overtime en route to 11 and
Alex Bodney contributed 10.
Shaw came out firing in the first half and doubled up a six-point lead on the Tritons midway through the first half with back-to-back triples from Alvin and Eddie Dawson.
Trailing by 12, Eckerd battled back to tie at 28-28 at the 3:29 mark on a three-point play after Kearse was hacked inside.
The Tritons were looking to seize control early in the second half, but Eckerd's offense stalled without a point until a three by Taylor nearly five minutes into the final period. Shaw was able to open the lead again to nine in that span.
Eckerd stormed back to tie and after a number of lead changes, the game's sixth deadlock (62-62) came with 1:30 left in regulation following a Sears' layup.
But Sears would miss the ensuing foul shot and Kearse came up short on the front end of his double-bonus opportunity a minute later. He would make the second shot, but a layup by Chaney put the Bears back up, 64-63, with 16 seconds left.
After scoring five straight in a second-half spurt, Mack made the front end of a trip to the line to tie, but his second shot was offline for a chance at the win.
Chaney tallied Shaw's first six points into overtime, but the Tritons were leading by three before Smith pulled up from the wing and drilled a clutch trey to tie again, this time at 73-73.
From that point, the Tritons committed three turnovers and missed a layup in the closing moments as the Bears ended the game on a 5-0 run.
The Tritons will begin Sunshine State Conference play to usher in the month of the December, taking on Florida Tech in Melbourne next Saturday. Tip-off for EC's league opener begins around 4 p.m.
