TAMPA, Fla. - The Eckerd Triton men's basketball team got the chance for a preseason tune-up ahead of the upcoming season opener, visiting NCAA Division I University of South Florida on Monday night and sticking close to the Bulls in a 78-64 exhibition loss.
Though the result won't count toward either team's records, 20th-year EC head coach
Tom Ryan had plenty of takeaways from the game.
"It gives us a good barometer of where we are as a team right now," he said, "and it lets us know if we can defend and execute against players like we saw tonight, we can be successful during the year."
The Tritons got off to a strong start, using a 12-2 run early in the game to build a 20-10 lead at the 12:54 mark capped by a
Jerrick Stevenson 3-pointer and a
Shane Phillips jumper in transition.
But USF's experience and length began to cause issues for Eckerd, altering shots on defense and working the ball inside on offense to tie the game at 25-25 with 8:09 left in the half. The Bulls then closed the half on a 14-3 run to take a 46-32 lead into halftime.
"Their length changed things," Ryan said. "They started getting some blocked shots and deflections."
The late run was aided by an extended cold stretch for the Tritons, who made just one of their last 13 shots of the half. Meanwhile, USF shot 60 percent in the half and scored 28 points in the paint.
Eckerd, though, refused to let the Bulls pull away, scoring the first five points of the second half to get back within nine. Later in the half, the Tritons cut the deficit down to 12 with 4:31 to play but couldn't get any closer.
Obi Kyei posted a double-double in his first game in a Triton uniform, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Trevon Young also scored 12 points, while
Jerrick Stevenson led EC with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
"I was really happy with our effort," said Ryan. "For 40 minutes our guys battled and played really hard. We can definitely take away some good things from this and hopefully it will help us this weekend at West Alabama."
Eckerd opens the regular season on Friday, facing Delta State (Miss.) on Friday at the GSC-SIAC-SSC Challenge at the University of West Alabama.
