Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With the shot clock winding down and 14.8 seconds left, junior guard
Woody Taylor buried the game-winning shot as the Eckerd College men's basketball program found redemption against Florida Tech on Saturday, 58-57.
The Tritons' floor general fearlessly crashed into a trio of defenders and with a high degree of difficulty, put up a floater that bounced softly off the back iron twice before falling through the net.
Taylor's theatrics helped the Tritons (13-5, 6-3 SSC) knock the Panthers (14-4, 6-3 SSC) off their pedestal as co-leader of the Sunshine State Conference standings with Rollins College.
Despite both teams holding a current 6-3 SSC record, the league standings will shift even more tonight as Rollins battles Florida Southern College (in progress). Eckerd came into today's game tied with Florida Southern for third in the SSC.
Both teams' respective leading scorers had their rare struggles from the field. EC's
Lance Kearse had an uncharacteristic night from the field (1-of-10) while Florida Tech's Simon Cummings labored on 1-of-14 shooting.
Darrien Mack dropped 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting to lead all scorers. Junior forward
Walade Wade added seven, including a critical three-point basket from the corner; senior guard
Wayne Sears Jr. ignited the crowd with a vicious fast-break slam dunk as
part of his nine points and Kearse finished with eight.
A total of four ties highlighted a close first half and neither team could get more than three points of separation as the lead exchanged hands multiple times.
Mack closed the first half with a two-handed flush that gave the Tritons a 33-32 lead going into the break.
In the second half, Sears flew in for his dunk following a steal that gave EC a 45-43 lead with 12:43 remaining. But the game's seventh tie was restored on the following possession and the Panthers opened up a seven-point lead with 4:56 left on a flat-footed three by Jermaine Jackson.
Two free throws by Mack and a pair from Kearse brought the Tritons to within four before Wade made his first three pointer of the season to close the gap to one. Mack made two more free throws a short while later for a 56-55 EC lead.
Anthony Jackson was the garbage man on a putback from a Julius Reid three-point miss to put Florida Tech back in front before Taylor made the game-winning shot fresh out of a timeout summoned by EC Head Coach
Tom Ryan.
The Tritons will look to retain their status near the top of the SSC next week on the road at Nova Southeastern University. Tip-off vs. the Sharks in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday is scheduled around 7:30 p.m.
