Morrow, McLaurn Lead Tritons in Close Win over Keiser

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - An upset-minded Keiser (Fla.) squad led for most of the night against the Eckerd men's basketball team but in the end, some clutch shooting from Blake Morrow and key defensive stops made the difference as the Tritons escaped with an 80-77 win on Friday at the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 80, Keiser 77
Records: Eckerd 5-1, Keiser 4-2
All-Time Series: Eckerd leads, 1-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• On their first two possessions of the game, Keiser demonstrated what the Tritons would see all night - consistent perimeter shooting.  The Seahawks drained back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a back-and-forth 10 minutes of action.  The lead changed hands eight times during that stretch.
• Keiser went ahead at the 9:42 mark on a traditional 3-point play by Marko Radulovic and stayed on top for the next seven minutes until a Keshawn Ingram 3-pointer tied the game at 38-38 followed by a Marco Behori layup to give EC a two-point lead. However, the Seahawks scored the last seven points of the half - including a last-second 3-pointer by Trystan Pratapas - and took a 46-41 lead into halftime.
• The two teams continued to swap the lead during the first several minutes of the second half.  Back-to-back layups by Drushaun McLaurn made it a 53-52 Triton lead with 15:41 left to play, but Keiser scored eight unanswered points to go ahead by seven with 11:52 remaining.  The Seahawks held the lead until Eckerd went on an 11-3 run, capped by a McLaurn floater, to go in front by two with 2:22 on the clock.
• The Seahawks weathered the storm and had a chance to hold a two-possession lead with 32 seconds remaining, but Micah Goss missed the second of two free throws.  Morrow promptly took a pass in transition and canned a deep 3-pointer off the right wing to tie the game at 77-77.
• With Keiser playing for the last shot, Eckerd forced an off-balance attempt by Goss and then picked the pocket of Andrija Sarenac on the rebound.  Morrow came away with the loose ball and was fouled while attempting to launch a long-range 3-pointer, sending him to the line for three shots with 2.5 seconds left.  Morrow made all three attempts and Eckerd pressured Goss into another off-balance attempt as time expired.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• McLaurn's basket with 2:22 left put him over the 1000-point mark for his career.  He is the 20th player in program history to reach the plateau and one of few to do it early in his third season.
• Morrow came up big in the final minute, scoring Eckerd's last eight points.  He was 5-of-5 from the free throw line during the stretch.
• Keiser went 11-of-26 from behind the arc.  Eckerd's last three opponents have all made 10 or more 3-pointers in their games against the Tritons.
• Eckerd turned the ball over a season-low nine times in the win.
• McLaurn scored 20 points to lead the Tritons in scoring for the fifth straight contest.

UP NEXT
Eckerd closes the Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, taking on Pittsburg State (Kan.) at 7:30 PM.  The Gorillas held off Tampa earlier in the day, 86-78.