Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball program overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and held its opponent without a field goal for the final five minutes to topple Nova Southeastern University on Saturday afternoon, 68-58.
The Tritons (4-2, 1-1 SSC) stopped a brief two-game skid and collected its first win in Sunshine State Conference play. Eckerd defeated the Sharks (3-4, 0-2 SSC) for the fifth straight time in the series history, with all being double-digit wins.
Walade Wade and
Lance Kearse each scored 12 points to pace the Tritons, while
Wayne Sears Jr. poured in 11.
Darrien Mack and
Marko Filipovic had nine each in reserve roles to highlight a strong effort by the Tritons' bench.
Despite plenty of back-and-forth action that featured eight ties and eight lead changes, points were seemingly difficult to come by for both programs at different times.
While the Sharks' offense sputtered in the latter stages, Eckerd had trouble getting tracked to begin the second half, scoring its first field goal at the 16:41 mark.
Eckerd began the game with a 9-2 run capped by a streaking layup from
Drew Fenstermaker, but the Sharks tied the low-scoring affair at the 13:06 mark in the first half after a three by Justin Jeangerard.
The Tritons controlled the tempo in transition early as Kearse electrified the crowd by flushing down four two-handed dunks off the fast break in the first half alone.
But Nova Southeastern was resilient and carved out a pair of five-point leads and two Robert Huntington free throws put the Sharks in front at halftime to snap the game's fifth tie, 30-28.
The Sharks threatened to put the game out of reach with on a 9-0 run to begin the final frame for an 11-point edge before the Tritons' comeback took flight.
Filipovic established position in the post for back-to-back buckets in the paint as the NSU lead was trimmed to five, then three with over 14 minutes to play.
Kearse gave the Tritons the lead for the first time in the second half a couple minutes later, but a jumper by Shaun Pratl put the visitors up by four at the 5:13 mark. That's when Nova Southeastern went cold, and one free throw by Jeangerard represented the only point the Sharks would tally the rest of the way.
The Tritons led by three with just over two minutes to play and the Eckerd fans erupted after Sears Jr. made a highlight-reel worthy, no-look pass in one motion to Wade underneath the bucket for an easy lay-in with just over a minute to play.
Eckerd finished the last five minutes of the game a perfect 11-for-11 at the charity stripe.
The Tritons will be resting until next Saturday, when they host Tuskegee (Ala.) University for a 2 p.m. contest followed by a Sunday 2 p.m. matchup against West Liberty (W.V.) University in the McArthur Center.
