Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a hard fought battle, the Eckerd College men's basketball team fell to the University of Minnesota State- Mankato on Saturday night, 86-70.
Closing out the final game of the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic, the Tritons dropped their second game of the season to the No. 14 team in the nation.
E.J. Moody opened up the game with a three pointer, giving EC the momentum. The Mavericks were sure to answer every point thrown up by the Tritons. Coming off the bench,
Kevin Walsh gave the Tritons the lead in the 14
th minute with a beautiful three pointer from the top of the key.
With the score even at 9-9, the Mavericks (5-1) came back strong and went on a tear throwing up 24 unanswered points, bringing the score to 33-9.
Malcolm Brunner Jr. broke their streak and drove through the paint to tack on two more points. At the end up the first half MSM led the Tritons, 39-17.
Jerrick Stevenson came out of half time firing and threw up a three pointer to bring the Tritons within 22. EC and MSM went basket for basket as the game pace picked up. A big steal by Brunner that turned into a layup gave the Tritons the energy they needed. In a span of two minutes,
Ray Darnell dished out three three-pointers.
Eckerd was resilient as they fought to narrow the gap that the Mavericks held.
Keshawn Ingram grabbed a rebound and ran coast to coast for the layup, bringing the Tritons within 20. The game had just over a minute remaining when Ingram threw up his third three-pointer. The Mavericks took home the win and went undefeated on both days of the Classic, 86-70.
Ingram led the team in points with 14 and Stevenson was not far behind nabbing 13 points of his own while pulling down six rebounds. As a team, the Tritons were 50% from three-point range, their best of the season.
Eckerd (3-2) will have a week of practice before facing their first conference opponent. The Tritons will hit the road to take on Florida Tech (7-0) Saturday at 4 p.m.
