Eckerd Slows High-Powered Saint Leo to Open SSC Play with Win

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Saint Leo Lions came into Wednesday's conference opener at Eckerd as one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation.

For the first 35 minutes, the Triton men's basketball team put them into the uncharacteristic position of struggling to score points.

The cushion that Eckerd built was enough to withstand a late onslaught by the Lions and send the Tritons to an 80-68 win in the Sunshine State Conference opener for both schools.

Eckerd (2-1, 1-0) led by as many as 26 points in the second half, getting good looks on offense while limiting the same for Saint Leo on the other end of the floor.

"We tried to play with high energy and talk on defense," said EC head coach Tom Ryan.  "We worked to keep their scorers from getting into the open floor."

For the most part, Eckerd did just that.  SLU entered the night averaging 95 points per game in two contests that included an upset of No. 12 Alabama-Huntsville.  With eight minutes to play tonight, the Lions hadn't even broken 40.

Saint Leo (2-1, 0-1) did find a way to pick it up down the stretch and make things interesting, turning up the pace on its already high-tempo offense.  The Lions managed to pull back within nine points with 1:28 remaining, but could get no closer.

"In our league, you have to stay focused for 40 minutes.  We lost focus a little bit down the stretch," Ryan said.  "They spread us out and played faster.  They do it very well and we didn't adjust to it."

Eckerd fell behind early as SLU built a quick six-point lead, but it soon evaporated as the result of a pair of 14-0 runs.  A Bradley Reibel 3-pointer capped the second one with 1:32 left in the half to extend EC's lead to 18 points.

The Lions scored the final four points of the half to get back within 14 at the break, but Eckerd scored nine unanswered points to begin the second half.

"When we were taking care of the ball, we were getting good shots," said Ryan.  "We executed much better than we did in the first two games."

The good shots continued as Eckerd took its largest lead of the game at 53-27 on a pair of Drushaun McLaurn free throws with 12:52 left.  The Tritons still led by 20 with under six minutes to play, and although Saint Leo didn't go away quietly, Eckerd never let the Lions truly back into the game.

Trevon Young posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, the second of his career.  Obi Kyei also had 10 rebounds as Eckerd won the battle of the boards, 45-29.  E.J. Moody (12 points), McLaurn (12 points) and Jerrick Stevenson (11 points) also reached double-figures in scoring for the Tritons.

Eckerd returns to the floor on Saturday with a visit to provisional SSC member Palm Beach Atlantic for a 4:00 PM tip-off.