Box Score TAMPA, Fla. - Forty-three years ago, the Eckerd Triton men's basketball team put together an 11-game winning streak.
No team had been able to duplicate that feat until this year and today, after a hard-fought 79-74 win over Tiffin (Ohio), the Tritons did one better. Eckerd won its 12th straight game, breaking the record that had stood since the 1972-73 season.
EC head coach
Tom Ryan attributes the team's consistency during the streak to a variety of facets.
"Depth has helped a lot and our defense for the most part has been pretty good," he said. "Our offensive chemistry has been getting better and I hope it continues to grow. We've had different people step up at different times."
This one didn't come easy against a Tiffin team that had already knocked off a nationally-ranked team one week ago.
The Dragons overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and took a 72-71 lead with 1:32 to play, putting EC's streak in danger.
That's when the Tritons (12-1) got a boost from three of their seniors and turned things back in their direction in a hurry.
Ray Darnell got a hand on a rare miss by
Kevin Walsh and tapped it behind him to
E.J. Moody, who weaved into the lane and finished off a floater in traffic to retake the lead. After a stop on the defensive end, Moody then found
Jerrick Stevenson for a huge 3-pointer with 37 seconds left, putting EC up by four.
It was a big shot by the senior made bigger by the fact that he had made just 1-of-7 from the field before coming through in the clutch.
"He has a lot of confidence in himself and that allows him to make a shot like that," said Ryan.
Stevenson later sealed it with two free throws with six seconds left for a five-point lead.
Walsh led Eckerd with 19 points on the strength of 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Stevenson added 10 points along with
Ray Darnell and
Drushaun McLaurn.
The Tritons are off until January 2, when they visit NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers for an exhibition contest. The regular season resumes on January 6 when Nova Southeastern visits the McArthur Center.
