Eckerd's Halftime Lead Disappears in Exhibition Loss to Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - For one half, the Eckerd men's basketball team played step-for-step with a member of the Southeastern Conference.

Taking on the University of Florida in an exhibition contest, the Tritons shot 54 percent in the first half and went into the locker rooms at the break with a 34-33 lead.

Eckerd still maintained the lead at the first media timeout of the second half after Kevin Walsh's second 3-pointer made it 40-38.

But the Gators were able to elevate their play and dominate the final 16 minutes, cruising to a 91-63 win over Eckerd in Jacksonville's Veterans Memorial Arena.

"I thought we played a good 24 minutes.  I liked how hard we played," said EC head coach Tom Ryan.  "Obviously, we were playing against a very good opponent with length that we won't see again. [Florida] turned it on in the second half and showed how athletic they were."

That size and athleticism resulted in foul trouble for Eckerd, which saw Obi Kyei and Drushaun McLaurn pick up their fourth fouls early in the second half and reserve post Admir Radoncic foul out with just under 15 minutes to play.

"For us to keep them away from the basket, we had to use our bodies and we committed some fouls," Ryan said. "Our guys were trying to adjust to the physicality of the game."

The Tritons went on a 14-2 run just past the midway point of the first half to erase an eight-point deficit and take a 28-24 lead at the 5:16 mark.  Keshawn Ingram, playing in his first game since November of last year, scored the final eight points of the run.  Ingram had 14 points at the half and led the Tritons with 17 points in the game.

However, the Gators began to apply additional pressure on the ball early in the second half resulting in a 19-2 run that quickly changed the tone of the game.

Florida refused to let up, outscoring EC 26-3 over a seven-minute stretch to continue to expand its lead.

Despite the tale of two halves, Ryan was pleased with his team's effort for the entire 40 minutes.

"We never stopped battling and never stopped playing hard," he said.  "I'm really proud of the guys.  It was a good first step for us to see where we were and know what we need to work on."

Turnovers were an issue for Eckerd, which gave up the ball 24 times leading to 31 points for Florida.

McLaurn added 10 points despite dealing with foul trouble for much of the second half.

Eckerd opens the regular season on Friday, November 11, taking on the University of West Alabama in the McArthur Center.