Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball program finished off an unbeaten two-day showing at the University of Tampa Classic, taking down Miles (Ala.) College on Sunday afternoon in the Martinez Center, 65-62.
The Tritons (6-2, 0-1 SSC) defeated Paine (Ga.) College in Friday's action before toppling another Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe and South Region opponent in the Golden Bears (3-5, 0-0 SIAC).
After pouring in a career-high 31 points against Paine yesterday, senior swingman
Darrien Mack recorded a double-double against Miles, coming up with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Junior guard
Josh Snodgrass added 12, including eight from the free throw line, while junior guard
Alex Bodney nailed a trio of three-point baskets to finish with nine.
Stephon Allen and Ronald Fox II each finished with 14 points to pace Miles.
The Tritons led by as many as 13 points following a free throw from Mack early in the second half, but the Golden Bears did their best to push the finish down to the wire with a chance to tie.
Mack blocked the final shot by Ty Lollar with three seconds on the clock.
EC battled back from a manageable five-point deficit in the first half, tying the game at 26-26 before taking the lead on a steal/slam dunk on the break by freshman
Jerrick Stevenson.
The Tritons then closed the first half on an impressive 8-0 run in the final 4:10 to take a double-digit lead into the locker room as their defense clamped down to hold Miles to 0-of-7 shooting in that span.
Back-to-back treys by Allen cut the Tritons' lead down to four with 4:20 to play and the room for comfort grew slimmer following a three-point play by Fox II that made it a 64-62 game with 2:24 left on the clock.
But scoring was tough to come by in the final minutes as Mack's free throw with 1:48 left was the lone point tallied down the stretch.
Miles came up empty on its final four field goal tries. Despite solid afternoons by Allen and Fox II, the Golden Bears shot around 35 percent in the game.
The Tritons sank 19 free throws as opposed to nine by their opponent.
EC will pick up in the Sunshine State Conference schedule this weekend against Nova Southeastern University on Saturday at 4 p.m., or following the completion of the women's contest in the McArthur Center.
