Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Eckerd men's basketball team traveled to Fort Myers for a midseason exhibition contest against NCAA Division-I opponent Florida Gulf Coast University in a tough battle but ultimately fell to the Eagles, 68-57.
Known for their historic Sweet 16 appearance in 2013 during which they earned the nickname of "Dunk City", the Eagles looked to be on the receiving end of an upset this time as the Tritons led for over 14 of the first 20 minutes.
Eckerd's largest lead of the game came with 8:00 remaining in the first half when Drushaun McLaurn fought through traffic and tipped-in his own miss to put the Tritons up 24-16.However, the Eagles rallied and took a 34-33 lead at the half.Trevon Young was a force to be reckoned with for Eckerd (12-1) on the inside as he dominated the first half shooting 7-for-8, including a 3-pointer, and led all scorers with 15 points.
Kevin Walsh also provided difficulties for the Eagles early on as he showcased his range with a pair of 3-pointers while
Jerrick Stevenson pulled down six rebounds in the half.
"[Trevon]'s always been a skilled offensive player, and he's gotten better and better the two years he's been with us. We're expecting these types of things out of him," head coach
Tom Ryan said. "When he puts everything together, he's going to be one of the best posts in our league."
However, when the Eagles (8-7) returned from the locker room they looked to quickly quiet Eckerd, the 10th-ranked team in Division II in the D2SIDA rankings, as they used their size advantage to shut down the Tritons' productivity. After shooting 45 percent from the field in the first half, FGCU converted on 51.9 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes compared to EC's 31 percent.
The Eagles also out-rebounded the Tritons 38-35 on the game, despite Eckerd's holding a 19-15 first half advantage.
FGCU's Marc-Eddy Norelia led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting while Young led Eckerd with 18, also finishing the game hitting 8-of-9 shots from the field. Stevenson, the Tritons' leading scorer, was held scoreless but his six rebounds were tied with Norelia for the game's high. Despite being shut out in the scoring column, Ryan felt like Stevenson still excelled as a court general.
"We competed with them for a half without Jerrick scoring a point again. Over at Rollins, Jerrick didn't score and E.J. [Moody] and Obi [Kyei] had tough nights and we were able to pull out that win, so it's good for us," Ryan recalled of the 67-62 victory. "Tonight, Jerrick still had a pretty good game pulling down six rebounds and playing good defense. He brought the ball up and played the one, two, three and four for us tonight, and he did it all well."
With the team currently on a record-breaking 12-game winning streak, the loss was not what Coach Ryan and company wanted out of the exhibition, but he hopes his team can look at it as a learning opportunity in order to continue the surge.
"We were riding kind of high up to this point, and it shows us where we are right now," Ryan said. "Hopefully it sent a message to our team that there are things to work on but when we do certain things we can be successful."
The Tritons look to extend their winning streak on Wednesday, January 6, as they take on the visiting Nova Southeastern Sharks in Sunshine State Conference play. The game will follow the women's contest and is set to tip-off at 7:30 PM.
