Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With a golden opportunity at hand, the Eckerd College men's basketball team seized the moment in resounding fashion.
Holding Rollins College to just 10 points in the first half on 12 percent shooting (3-of-25) , the Tritons (15-5, 8-3 SSC) throttled their longtime league rival in front of raucous house in the McArthur Center on Saturday afternoon, 71-57.
In the process, Eckerd separated itself from a three-way tie with Florida Tech and Rollins (14-7, 7-4 SSC) to grab solo possession of first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings.
The Tritons completed the regular-season sweep over the Tars after coming out on top in gritty overtime battle in Winter Park back in January.
Sixteenth-year Head Coach
Tom Ryan grabbed win No. 301 in his prolific career, matching the 300-win milestone earlier this week on the road at Nova Southeastern University.
“Rollins beat us three times last year and they're an extremely well-coached team,” Ryan said. “We got in a flow and kept it going. Defensively, we did a good job and it gave us a nice edge at the half. The home crowd was great support; they're our sixth man on the court.”
“We told our guys tonight was the most important game of the season -- we told them in the walkthrough this morning and we'll tell it to them tomorrow,” he added. “There are just too many good teams in the league on a given night to rest on our laurels. Good teams get ready for everybody and I hope we can continue to do that.”
Points were hard to come by in the opening minutes of play and the Tritons led 8-4 with just over 14 minutes left in the first half as both teams exchanged blows.
Then the run began.
Eckerd would hold Rollins scoreless for nearly 10 minutes as the Tritons extended their lead to 17 points. At the half, five Rollins players led their team in scoring with only two points each.
Leading 32-10 at the break, the second half would test the Tritons' will to close out a big game.
Rollins went on to score 47 of their 57 points in the second stanza. Junior point guard
Woody Taylor scored a trio of three-pointers in a two minute-span to help the Tritons hold off the Tars' comeback.
The Tars cut the lead to nine points as Jeremy Sharpe went on a tear from three-point range, scoring 18 of his 20 points in the closing frame. Eckerd kept the lead at double digits to close out the remaining five minutes of play.
Junior
Darrien Mack led all scorers with 21 points and added five rebounds. Senior
Wayne Sears Jr. scored 12 and added seven rebounds.
The Tritons will host Florida Southern College this Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on
eckerdtritons.com.
