Second-Half Surge Gives Tritons Fifth Straight Win

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A strong second half propelled the Eckerd men's basketball team to its first conference win of the season, knocking off Lynn University on Wednesday night in the McArthur Center, 73-56.

Eckerd (6-2, 1-1 SSC) outscored the Fighting Knights, 46-29, in the game's final 20 minutes, quickly establishing a new tone via an early 11-0 run.

"I thought we did a much better job of executing our defensive game plan [in the second half] than we did in the first half," said EC head coach Tom Ryan.  "Our defense and our play on the boards on both ends was the difference."

The win was the fifth in a row for the Tritons, who won their fourth straight game over Lynn (2-4, 0-3 SSC).

It took a while for Eckerd to get into a groove in tonight's game, finding it difficult to score against Lynn's 3-2 zone in the first half.  But Ryan's halftime adjustments worked as EC made 16-of-24 from the floor in the second half and eventually forced the Knights out of the zone.

"We didn't move the ball as well in the first half as we did in the second," Ryan said.  "I thought we were a little more patient in the second half and it led to some good opportunities."

The Fighting Knights took their final lead of the game at 30-27 after a Marquan Botley 3-pointer opened the second half.  Eckerd followed with 11 unanswered points as part of an extended 20-2 run that put the Tritons firmly in control.  EC led by as many as 22 points before four late 3-pointers by Lynn helped trim the final margin to 17.

The first half was certainly more of a grind on both ends of the floor.  Neither team shot above 40 percent - both were under 25 percent from 3-point range - and Eckerd turned the ball over eight times.  Ten offensive rebounds helped EC compensate somewhat for the low percentage, heading into halftime tied at 27-27.

But Eckerd stepped up its game afterward, getting good looks at the basket while limiting the same for Lynn which shot just 35.1 percent for the game.

Drushaun McLaurn put together a quality all-around performance with 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.  Keshawn Ingram came off the bench to score 10 points as the only other Triton to reach double-figures.  The Tritons dominated the glass, holding a 50-25 rebounding advantage.

Eckerd returns to the floor on Saturday, visiting Rollins for a 4:00 PM tipoff.