BASKETBALL GAMEDAY: Tritons Host Saint Leo in Final December SSC Contests

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd basketball teams prepare to host Saint Leo on Saturday in their final conference games before the holiday break.
 

Saint Leo (3-4, 0-2 SSC) at Eckerd (6-2, 3-0 SSC)
WHEN	Saturday, December 10 | 2:00 PM
WHERE	McArthur Center
WATCH	Live Video | Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA	Twitter (@ECTritons) | Instagram (@EckerdTritons)
LAST MEETING	Eckerd 63, Saint Leo 48 (1/27/16)

ABOUT THE LIONS: Saint Leo has already made positive strides under first-year head coach Anthony Crocitto, playing tight contests with both Embry-Riddle and Barry during a four-game home stand.  Chelsy Springs, the team's top scorer last year, has picked up where she left off.  The senior from Orlando is averaging 14.0 points per game and has been particularly good in conference play, scoring a career-high 28 points against Barry last Saturday.  She's also the team's top rebounder, averaging 7.9 per game.  Sharp-shooter Mary Redmond missed SLU's last three games, but could return to the lineup on Saturday.  The perimeter threat set a new program record with eight 3-pointers in a win over Shorter (Ga.) on November 12.

STARTING STRONG: The Tritons have made a habit of building early leads in conference games.  Last week, EC jumped ahead of Lynn, 22-3, in the first quarter, then used a 24-8 second-quarter burst to blow out Rollins.  The hot starts played a major part in Eckerd's picking up a pair of 29-point wins.  The Tritons have allowed an average of just 24.5 points per game in the first half this season.

DO IT WITH DEFENSE: One important component of Eckerd's early-season success has been defense.  The Tritons rank either first or second in the SSC in nearly every defensive category leading the way in field goal percentage defense (33.7), 3-point percentage defense (24.0), opponent turnovers (22.6) and steals (12.4 per game).
 

Saint Leo (4-4, 1-1 SSC) at Eckerd (7-2, 2-1 SSC)
WHEN	Saturday, December 10 | 4:00 PM
WHERE	McArthur Center
WATCH	Live Video | Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA	Twitter (@ECTritons) | Instagram (@EckerdTritons)
LAST MEETING	Saint Leo 87, Eckerd 84 (1/27/16)

ABOUT THE LIONS: Saint Leo hasn't played a shortage of tough opponents or close games in the early season.  Only one of the team's eight games has been decided by more than 10 points, and two have gone into overtime.  The Lions boast a win over then-No. 9 Barry in one of those overtime contests, knocking off the Bucs last Saturday, 99-93.  Marcus Dewberry is one of the SSC's most dynamic scorers, averaging 21.5 points per game.  Newcomer Justin Satchell, the reigning SSC Player of the Week, scores 15.9 per game while Tyreece Brice (14.3) and Necdet Gurkan (10.0) also average in double-figures.

STREAKING AGAIN: Last year, the Tritons rolled off a 16-game winning streak.  There's still a long way to go toward matching that, but Eckerd does enter Saturday riding a six-game streak including two conference wins last week.

DO IT WITH DEFENSE, TOO: Eckerd continues to base much of its success on defense and rebounding.  The Tritons currently lead the SSC in scoring defense (71.0 points per game) and rebounding margin (plus-10.1) and allow the fewest rebounds to opponents (29.7 per game).  That should make for an interesting matchup with a Saint Leo team which leads the SSC in total rebounding.