ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With only two games remaining in the regular season before the Sunshine State Conference Championship and potential additional postseason dancing in “March Madness,” the Eckerd College men's and women's basketball programs have zeroed in on rival Saint Leo University for a Wednesday night road clash.
The women are looking to improve on their No. 10 South Region ranking while the men, currently ranked sixth in the region, can topple another nationally-ranked giant in the NABC's new No. 11-ranked Saint Leo program.
The women's game starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Bowman Center and the men's contest will follow around 7:30 p.m. Tonight is Senior Night for the Lions and represents their final games of the regular season.
Live stats and video/audio links courtesy of Saint Leo have been posted on EckerdTritons.com.
The Tritons will return home to the McArthur Center one more time in 2012-13 on Saturday to honor their senior class against Lynn University.
The Saint Leo women (12-13, 7-8 SSC), while not regionally ranked, handed the Tritons (13-10, 8-6 SSC) a six-point margin of defeat in the first meeting of the season.
Sophomore guard
Taylor Bestry (8.2 ppg) exited early from that contest with an injury and freshman guard and leading scorer
Annie Armstrong (11.7 ppg) remained sidelined from another injury.
With the team back at full strength and playing stifling defense (last two opponents have shot 25 percent or worse from the field), the Tritons will look to salvage the split in the regular season.
Under Head Coach
Paul Honsinger, EC enters tonight's game on a four-game win streak and can help itself considerably with another South Region win. The Tritons are currently tied for third in the SSC standings with Florida Tech (tie goes to Florida Tech) and are battling for precious seeding when the SSC Championship begins in Kissimmee.
Breaking down the men's matchup, the Lions (20-5, 12-3 SSC) have wrapped up a share of the SSC regular-season crown, but the Tritons have aspirations of preventing an outright claim of the title with the upset.
EC took down Saint Leo at home earlier this season after the Tritons emerged as the victor in a 61-57 overtime battle on Jan. 24.
Junior guard
Alex Bodney is currently 10th among national leaders in free throw percentage and rose to the top of career leaders all-time in the program's storied history. He is currently shooting 86 percent from the charity stripe in 79 games to date, a clip of 268-for-312.
He is also second on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and has made 61 of his last 62 free throw attempts (over 98 percent).
Senior forward
Darrien Mack, recipient of three SSC Player of the Week honors this season, is a serious contender for SSC Player of the Year honors with balanced scoring and rebounding numbers that lead all players in conference play only.
Based on all-around numbers, rankings and team accomplishments, Saint Leo's Marcus Ruh is another name in consideration along with Florida Southern College sharpshooter Seth Evans.
The EC men are also tied for third in the SSC standings with Rollins College (tie goes to Rollins), but like the women, are also on a four-game win streak heading into tonight.
