Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A 26-year-old record was broken on Friday night by the Eckerd College men's basketball team.
The Tritons shattered the previous program watermark for margin of victory in a 101-38 win over the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon at the McArthur Center in the annual Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic. The previous record of 53 points was set in the 1989-90 season when EC defeated Wesley College, 90-37.
After the Cowboys (0-3) opened the game with a 3-pointer, Eckerd went on a 25-0 run with a combination of post and perimeter scoring. It turned out to be a theme that held true for the rest of the game.
As has become commonplace already this season, the Tritons used a balanced offensive attack that featured four players in double-figures. Eckerd also shared the ball effectively across the board with 23 assists, and no player had more than four. Forty-eight of the team's points came in the paint.
"That shows they are looking for each other," said EC head coach
Tom Ryan.
Though Eckerd (5-1) eclipsed the century mark, it started on the other side of the floor. The Tritons swarmed the ball and the passing lanes all night long, holding UPR-Bayamon to a mere 27.3 percent shooting. They also forced the Cowboys into 18 turnovers, which were converted into 28 points.
"I was happy with our defense and with how guys off the bench played," Ryan said. "We stayed with them on defense and ran things how we wanted to run them on offense."
A string of 12 unanswered points late in the first half gave EC a 43-10 lead, and the Tritons later scored the final four points of the half for a sizable 34-point margin at the break. A 16-4 run early in the second half continued to expand the lead as Eckerd knocked down six of its first seven 3-point attempts after halftime.
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Drushaun McLaurn layup with 30 seconds left put the Tritons into triple digits and capped off the record-setting margin.
The freshman McLaurn led all scorers with 16 points while
Trevon Young had 15 and
Jerrick Stevenson added 14.
Bradley Reibel was a perfect 5-of-5 from floor on his way to a career-high 12 points.
Eckerd concludes play in its annual holiday event on Saturday, hosting Claflin (S.C.) University at 7:30 PM. The Panthers (2-2) saw a last-second 3-point attempt fall off the mark in a 65-62 loss to Tampa in Friday's opener.
