Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. - It's been a rare occurrence for the Eckerd Tritons to lose a game this season but when they have, they've been able to respond the next time they take the court.
Eckerd bounced back from its first conference loss earlier in the week with a hard-fought road win over Florida Tech, 69-56, to complete the season sweep of the Panthers.
The No. 10/11 Tritons (18-3, 9-1 SSC) used two extended runs - one in each half - to maintain their 1.5-game lead in the Sunshine State Conference.
The first came at the end of the first half after the Panthers had built a seven-point lead with 6:30 left. Eckerd responded by scoring 17 unanswered points, finding the gaps in FIT's extended zone and knocking down 5-of-6 from behind the arc over a six-minute stretch.
"We were able to get it into the high post and make good passes out of it," said EC head coach
Tom Ryan. "We had some good looks early that we missed and we finally started knocking them down."
But it was the second run that was more crucial, coming after Florida Tech (11-10, 3-7 SSC) pulled within two points with 9:33 to play.
First, Eckerd got a stop when the Panthers had a chance to tie the game or take the lead. It turned into a fastbreak layup by
Drushaun McLaurn, who pulled down the rebound and took it the length of the floor. McLaurn then came up with steals on FIT's next two possessions, both leading to layups in transition.
The freshman then capped off a 10-0 run with another layup as the Tritons quieted the crowd and took a 57-45 lead with 6:19 to play. The Panthers were unable to recover, getting no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The game was quite different than the first meeting of the season between the two teams, a high-scoring affair in which Eckerd prevailed in overtime, 104-100. Today, both teams had more issues getting the same sort of open looks at the basket. Eckerd shot 41.8 percent in the contest while holding the Panthers to 34.4 percent.
"This is the style we like, where it's more of a defensive game," Ryan said. "We did a good job of stretching them out."
Kevin Walsh scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half while McLaurn added 13 points.
E.J. Moody chipped in 11 on the strength of three 3-pointers.
The win was important for the Tritons, as they stayed a game ahead of Barry University in the loss column in the SSC standings and two games ahead of Rollins. The second half of conference play will be a battle, Ryan said, as EC attempts to win its first regular season conference title since 1995.
"I believe we're still hungry and want to keep building," he said. "There are no easy ones. The goal is to play our best basketball at the beginning of March so hopefully we will continue to improve."
Eckerd will be tested again on Wednesday in the McArthur Center by Rollins in a rematch of a November 24 matchup that saw the Tritons rally from a 16-point deficit for a 67-62 win. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game beforehand.
