Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball program finished strong down the stretch in its regular-season opener to slow down a spirited effort from Puerto Rico-Bayamon in the EC Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night, 72-58.
The Tritons (1-0, 0-0 SSC) overcame a one-point halftime deficit and worked hard to control the tempo in the second-half against the Vaqueros (1-3 overall), ultimately outscoring their opponent, 40-25, in the final frame.
A few familiar faces returned from last year's UPR-Bayamon guard-laden squad that went up against the Tritons early in the 2011-12 campaign. Combined with several new names, the Vaqueros held their own on EC's home court.
All five Eckerd starters scored in double digits with juniors
Josh Snodgrass and
Alex Bodney each scoring 12 points. Senior
Woody Taylor scored 11, junior reserve
Junior McLeod bulled his way to the same output while forwards
Darrien Mack and
Malcolm Brunner Jr. recorded 10.
Streaking guard Carlos Ramos led UPR-Bayamon with 18 points and also pulled in eight rebounds. Brunner Jr. grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Tritons.
Each team had respective highlight-reel worthy dunks in a back-and-forth first half after UPR-Bayamon's Hector Garcia flushed a backdoor alley-oop in transition and McLeod put the hammer down with a one-handed slam of his own.
The Vaqueros (translated to Cowboys in English) seemingly had an answer for a number of EC possessions in the form of a clutch three in the first half.
A long bomb from Omar de Jesus gave the Vaqueros their largest lead of the game at seven with 9:05 left in the first half. When the Tritons came within three a few sequences later, Ramos ripped the cords from deep to put his team back up by six.
EC tied the game at 27-27 and the Vaqueros would head into the locker room up one point.
McLeod did the dirty work underneath in 15 productive minutes off the bench. He made seven free throws and grabbed a pair of key offensive rebounds that led to additional free throw opportunities.
But the pace of the game slowed down significantly in the second half as EC took advantage of 12 makes from the charity stripe as UPR-Bayamon became bogged down with foul trouble.
Brunner Jr. made his impact felt with six points in the middle of a 9-3 EC run to begin the second half, including a layup and a nice turnaround jumper from the baseline.
Bodney helped EC cement its lead late with back-to-back three pointers, including one more than several steps behind the line that put the Tritons up by 13 with just under five minutes to go in the second half.
Bodney was 4-of-7 from the field and also dished out a game-high five assists.
The Tritons continue the EC Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow night in the McArthur Center with a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Clark Atlanta (Ga.) University. The Panthers fell victim to the University of Tampa in the other men's game this evening.
Live stats and video/audio will be streamed on EckerdTritons.com.
