Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With 4.8 seconds on the clock, junior guard
Josh Snodgrass sank a teardrop floater to lift the Eckerd College men's basketball program over Shaw (N.C.) University in the St. Petersburg Sports Alliance Series opener on Saturday night, 73-71.
Following two timeouts, Snodgrass got back on the other end to play picture-perfect defense on the final possession as Derrick Hunter's off-balance jumper fell short as the buzzer sounded.
The Tritons (3-1, 0-1 SSC) withstood a late charge after the Bears (4-4, 0-0 CIAA) stormed back out of a 14-point hole with 5:55 left in the game.
SU's Curtis Hines followed his own miss to tie things at 71-71 with 14 ticks remaining and the Tritons' coaching staff drew up the winning play.
“(Head) Coach (
Tom Ryan) set up a pick-and-roll with me and D-Mack and it wasn't really designed for me to shoot the ball,” Snodgrass said afterwards. “I saw the defender turn his head looking for the screen and I did the crossover dribble and went by him.”
Mack lost his footing coming out to set a screen, but Snodgrass avoided a potential charge outside the lane by pulling up and making the final bucket.
The Tritons overcame a 21-7 Shaw run inside the final six minutes.
With the Bears down by 14, Hines nailed back-to-back threes to cut the lead to eight and teammate Latrail McCoy scored five straight points to make it a four-point game with 2:22 left.
Shaw's leading scorer and rebounder Karron Johnson finished with 19 points and six rebounds, but fouled out with over eight minutes to play. Hines finished with 20 and Andre Paulk contributed 10.
Eckerd had its athleticism on full display as
Darrien Mack and
Jerrick Stevenson had a pair of crowd-pleasing jams. Mack also bounced a no-look pass to a trailing
Malcolm Brunner Jr. on the break for a two-handed flush in the second half.
In a reserve role, Stevenson scored 15 points and converted the rare four-point play after being fouled on a made trey in front of his own bench. He brought the crowd to its feet with a putback dunk off a missed layup.
Stevenson, Mack and senior guard
Woody Taylor, each netted 15 in a balanced scoring effort. Snodgrass finished with 14 and Mack led his team in rebounds with seven.
The Tritons made a living at the charity stripe, converting 22 free throws versus nine by the Bears. Both teams committed 18 turnovers and handed out 10 assists.
Eckerd hit seven three-point field goals, including back-to-back triples by Taylor that helped EC gain some separation midway through the first half.
Snodgrass swished a baseline jumper before halftime that gave the Tritons a nine-point edge going into the locker room.
The Tritons continue the St. Petersburg Sports Alliance Series next week on Monday evening, playing Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) University in the McArthur Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
