Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball team broke down a talented Dominican (N.Y.) College offense in the second half to deliver the Chargers their first loss of the season, 70-67, on Monday night.
Eckerd (5-3, 0-0 SSC) trailed Dominican (7-1, 5-0 CACC) by nine, 44-35, entering the second half. The Chargers netted nearly 67 percent of their shots from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while the Tritons posted a 40 percent shot percentage.
With 12:28 remaining in the opening frame, junior A.J. Burton hit a trey -- one of his four total from downtown -- to give the Chargers a 16-14 advantage and Dominican would hold on to the lead until the break.
Dominican forward Nick Smith, the nation's leading scorer among all Division II players at 28.4 points per game entering tonight, erupted for 20 of his game-high 30 points in the first half.
"They're [Dominican] a very good team," EC Head Coach
Tom Ryan said. "They have very good team chemistry. We knew one quick steal wasn't going to get us back in the game."
During halftime, Ryan said he stressed to his team to play strong defense for each 35-second possession and to make the opponent work for its points.
The Tritons took Ryan's message and ran with it. Within the first five minutes of the second half, Eckerd reclaimed the lead, 48-46, on an 11-0 run after forcing two turnovers and five stops.
The Tritons held the Chargers to just under 31 percent from the field in the second half.
With just one second remaining and the Tritons leading by one, sophomore
E.J. Moody was fouled and sent to the line in the bonus.
Moody -- now 12 of 12 on the year in the free throw category -- sank both his shots to give Eckerd a 70-67 lead and the win. The starting point guard returned to the starting lineup tonight after sitting out at Palm Beach Atlantic University for an undisclosed injury.
Senior
Alex Bodney led the Tritons in scoring with 17 points and added a strong defensive performance with one block and three steals.
Moody (12), junior
Malcolm Brunner Jr. (13), sophomore
Ray Darnell (13) and senior
Josh Snodgrass (10) added double-digit scoring performances to balance out the box score. Darnell also posted 14 rebounds to record his third double-double on the season.
Eckerd remains at home on Wednesday over the holiday break as it takes on Tuskegee (Ala.) University at 7:30 p.m. as part of the St. Petersburg Sports Alliance Series in the McArthur Center.
