Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - One month ago, the Eckerd men's basketball team broke a record that had held up for 26 years.
Now they've tied one that has been in place for 43 years.
The No. 12/21 Tritons matched the program record for most consecutive wins in a season, taking their 11th straight victory after a 106-87 defeat of Eastern New Mexico on Saturday afternoon in the McArthur Center in the Tampa Classic.
Eckerd (11-1) has won its games during the streak in a variety of ways and today, against a very big and athletic ENMU team, the Tritons simply out-executed their opponent.
"I thought we shared the ball very well," said EC head coach
Tom Ryan. "I'm never completely happy but it was really good today."
Shared the ball well, indeed. Six players scored in double-figures for the Tritons while the team assisted on 32 of its 41 baskets.
Eckerd also got a boost off the bench from
Bradley Reibel, who scored 10 points as part of a 16-4 run that gave the Tritons their first bit of separation from the Greyhounds with a 32-19 lead at the 9:07 mark of the first half.
"[Bradley] has been giving us good minutes," Ryan said, "but he really exploded today."
ENMU pulled back within nine points late in the first half before
Jerrick Stevenson took over, scoring seven points in the final 2:51 to help give Eckerd a 51-36 lead at the break.
The Tritons then out-scored Eastern New Mexico, 17-9, over the first 5:30 of the second half to push the lead to 23 points. The lead stayed at 20 or greater for the majority of the game from that point forward.
Depth has been a key factor in Eckerd's success this season and Ryan pointed to several players including seniors Reibel and
Ray Darnell for making that happen.
"Ray's been a true leader," he said. "He had been a starter for the last two seasons, but more than anything, he just wants to play and help the team. He's taken on that [reserve] role and does it well. We've had a lot of people step up."
Stevenson scored 20 points to lead the way while
Obi Kyei added 18 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
Kevin Walsh netted 15 and was a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range while Reibel had 14 and
Drushaun McLaurn had 12.
Trevon Young scored 10 points despite being saddled with foul trouble.
Eckerd shot the ball extremely well, making 58.6 percent from the floor and 8-of-13 from behind the arc.
The Tritons will attempt to break the program's consecutive wins record tomorrow as they face off against Tiffin (Ohio) University at 2:00 PM at the University of Tampa. The record of 12 straight wins was set in the 1972-73 season.
