TAMPA, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball program continued to round into midseason form over the holiday layover after bringing down Pfeiffer (N.C.) University on a neutral floor to begin the Tampa Classic on Saturday, 85-68.
Five different players scored in double-figures to lead another well-balanced scoring effort for the Tritons (6-4, 0-0 SSC), who are playing their third and fourth games in less than a week.
Senior
Josh Snodgrass returned from an absence against Tuskegee (Ala.) University and lit up the defense of the Falcons (3-7 overall) for 21 points in 28 minutes. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and cashed in on all seven tries at the free-throw line.
Freshman sharpshooting guard
Matt Beneduci erupted for a career-high 11 points in a reserve role, including a trio of three-point buckets.
Senior guard
Alex Bodney drained four field goals from long range as part of his 17 points and managed to distribute four assists. Junior
Malcolm Brunner Jr. asserted himself down low with 14 points and eight rebounds while sophomore
Jerrick Stevenson turned in 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Blossoming sophomore forward
Ray Darnell was two points shy of a double-double after posting eight points, hauling in 11 boards and handing out five dimes.
Eckerd led by as many as 18 against Pfeiffer and commanded a wire-to-wire edge with the exception of one tie.
Stevenson capped a game-opening 10-2 run against the Falcons with a triple inside the first three minutes of regulation. Another longball dialed up by the athletic swingman gave the Tritons their first double-digit cushion less than five minutes in.
Snodgrass scored five unanswered points upon his first entry into the game, including a three-point play after he picked the pocket of Connor Dahn.
Pfeiffer's David McNair trimmed the deficit down to four, but Snodgrass made a basket on EC's last possession of the first half and swatted a layup attempt on the other end as the Tritons carried a 38-33 edge into the break.
A Beneduci three with 13:22 left to play gave the Tritons more breathing room up 52-43, one of nine connected from downtown by the team.
Another 9-0 run late into the second half was punctuated with back-to-back layups from Stevenson and Snodgrass inside five minutes remaining.
With the Sunshine State Conference schedule on the horizon to break in the new calendar year, EC will have one more impression to make against Miles (Ala.) College tomorrow, a familiar foe from the 2012 edition of the Tampa Classic.
The Tritons have another 2 p.m. tip-off in Tampa on Sunday against Miles before assembling again to host Nova Southeastern University for their SSC opening-tilt in the McArthur Center on Saturday, Jan. 4.
