Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After taking a solid lead in the first half, the Eckerd College men's basketball team grabbed a last minute victory over Nova Southeastern on Saturday night, 73-70.
Nova knocked in the first two points of the game before
Jerrick Stevenson hit a deep three pointer. It was the first of nine first half shots drained from three point land for the Tritons.
Kevin Walsh was responsible for four of the team's three pointers in the first 20 minutes helping them stretch out the lead.
Keshawn Ingram also got into the act hitting a trey from the corner to give his team a 12 point lead midway through the first half up 28-14.
E.J. Moody did not want to be left out going 2 for 4 from behind the line and putting Eckerd up 42-30 with one minute remaining until halftime. Nova's Chris Page answered with a three pointer of his own with seconds remaining on the clock sending EC into the locker room with a 42-33 lead.
Moody continued the three point theme to start the second half knocking in an open shot with an assist from
Ray Darnell. Eckerd held a 10 point lead with 15 minutes remaining before Nova was able to shoot their way back into the ball game.
NSU went on a 12-2 run over two and a half minutes to bring the Sharks within five. Nova's Harrison Goodrick dropped in a layup to tie the game at 57-57 with nine minutes remaining. Goodrick then gave his team their first lead since the opening minute of the game with a jumper and 3:48 left on the clock.
The Sharks went up by three, but the Tritons answered with back-to-back buckets from Darnell to give them a one point lead. Ingram was able to stifle the defense for a layup with one minute left in regulation.
Malcolm Brunner Jr. came up big pulling down three rebounds in the final 60 seconds of play and securing the 73-70 victory.
"Our post players worked hard tonight which opened up our shooters for three point shots," said Head Coach,
Tom Ryan. "We showed some resiliency tonight at the end of the game being able to pull it out in the end. That is good for a young team to build character."
The two teams combined to hit 23 three pointers in the contest. Walsh finished with 18 while Moody and Stevenson ended with 15 and 11 respectively. Brunner Jr. pulled down 13 boards, scored six points and added a steal on the night.
Eckerd (8-3, 2-0) will take on Tampa (6-5, 0-2) Wednesday inside the McArthur Center. The game is slated to begin at 7:30.
