CLEVELAND, Miss. - One night after overcoming a double-digit deficit in the first half, the Eckerd men's basketball team had the proverbial shoe on the other foot against West Alabama on Saturday night.

A 13-point lead disappeared, but the Tritons persevered and held off UWA to pick up an 82-79 win at the SSC-GSC Challenge at Delta State University.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 82, West Alabama 79
Records: Eckerd 2-0; West Alabama 1-1
All-Time Series: Eckerd leads, 6-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A 10-0 run in the first four minutes of the game gave the Tritons a quick lead, which eventually grew to 11 points with 13:00 left in the first half as EC made 9 of its first 14 shots.  A layup by Trevon Young and two Blake Morrow free throws later gave EC its largest lead of the game at 25-12.  The Tigers, though, kept the deficit from getting out of hand, pulling back within seven points on three occasions and finishing the half strong to trail 49-43 at halftime.
• A 3-pointer by Keshawn Ingram early in the second half pushed Eckerd's lead back to 10 but West Alabama soon erased it on the heels of a 14-4 run, tying the game at 53-53 with 14:00 left.  The lead then changed hands four times with Travis Bianco's 3-pointer putting Eckerd ahead, 66-65, with 6:46 to play.  Bianco drained another triple two minutes later, capping a run of 12 unanswered points and extending EC's lead to eight.
• West Alabama again battled back, tying the game at 76-76 with two minutes left, but Drushaun McLaurn drew a foul and made both free throws to put Eckerd up by two.  UWA's Gavin Robinson had a chance to tie the game on his team's next possession; however, he missed one of his two free throws.  Young worked free in the paint for a basket and, after an important stop by the Triton defense, Marco Behori made two free throws for a five-point lead.  The Tigers scored an inconsequential bucket in the final seconds for the final 82-79 margin.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• The Tritons open the season 2-0 for the first time since 2012-13.
• Tonight's win marked the fourth straight season in which Eckerd has beaten West Alabama.
• Despite foul trouble, McLaurn scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.  He was one of four Tritons in double figures followed by Morrow (13 points) and Behori and Bianco (11 each).
• Eckerd was strong on the boards, out-rebounding the Tigers by a margin of 45-32.  Behori tied his career-high with nine rebounds.

UP NEXT
Conference play begins quickly for Eckerd as the Tritons travel across the bay to take on rival Tampa on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.