Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College men's basketball team dropped a Sunshine State Conference matchup to the University of Tampa, 64-49, on Wednesday night at the McArthur Center.
The Tritons (9-6, 2-2 SSC) started out the game with strong defense, forcing three turnovers early on.
Eckerd held a 10-2 lead nearly three minutes into the half, but the initial momentum would not last as Tampa (10-4, 3-2 SSC) responded with eight unanswered points to tie the game at 10.
"Tampa is a physical team with a very, very good team defense," EC head coach
Tom Ryan said. "They kept us from doing a lot of things we wanted to do tonight."
After the brief three-minute lapse, Tampa's defense was concrete for the remainder of the game to hold EC to its season-low scoring output. The Spartans' scoring defense came in ranked second in the league and 27th in the nation.
At the conclusion of the half, Eckerd trailed the Spartans by just three.
Ryan said the discussions in the locker room were centered on getting more rebounds and handling their possessions better. Tampa held the edge on the glass against Eckerd on the night, 36-27.
Senior Ryan Kidd hit a trey at the 15:47 mark and triggered a 10-0 run for Tampa to put it ahead, 48-33, and the Tritons would not be able to recover down the stretch.
Senior Da'Marcko Foster led the Spartans with 15 points. Kidd added 10 points and eight rebounds, and freshman Matt Johnson also added 10 points.
Senior
Alex Bodney and sophomore
Jerrick Stevenson led the Tritons' offense with 13 points each.
The Tritons are back in action on Saturday as Barry University travels to the McArthur Center for a game scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST.
Live stats and video will be available for the contest on
www.EckerdTritons.com.
