Tritons Escape Florida Tech With 92-87 Win

Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. - In November, the Eckerd men's basketball team saw a sizable second half lead against Florida Tech slip away as the Panthers won on the Tritons' home floor.

In tonight's game in Melbourne, EC again had a large lead in the second half only to see the Panthers come roaring back just as they did in the first meeting.

However, the rematch would bring no repeat as the Tritons made the plays they needed down the stretch to hold on for a 92-87 win and maintain their spot in second place in the Sunshine State Conference standings.

"We had some people make shots down the stretch," said Eckerd head coach Tom Ryan.  "We got a little stagnant on offense for a while but made the plays when we needed to make them."

After taking a five-point lead into halftime, Eckerd (15-6, 8-4 SSC) outscored FIT, 25-14, over the first eight minutes of the second half to push the lead to 16 after a traditional 3-point play by Kevin Walsh.  The Panthers quickly cut that lead down to five, but EC responded with an 11-2 run to take a 79-65 lead with 6:15 to play.

Needing to make something happen quickly, Florida Tech turned up the defensive pressure and forced Eckerd into turnovers in seven of its next eight possessions, pulling back within two at the 1:57 mark on a tip-in by Michael Milligan.

Milligan was fouled on the putback but missed the free throw in what was the Panthers' last real chance to flip the scoreboard.  Drushaun McLaurn answered with an acrobatic scoop layup on Eckerd's next possession followed by a 3-pointer by Walsh off the right wing.

The Tritons followed with another stop on defense to regain possession, leading to a foul on Marco Behori to send him to the line.  Behori made the first and missed the second, but Obi Kyei pulled in the rebound to extend EC's possession and FIT never got within two possessions of the lead during the game's final minute.

The Panthers (11-10, 4-8 SSC) got off to a quick start scoring the game's first eight points, but Eckerd got on track and took its first lead after back-to-back dunks by Kyei.  FIT briefly went back on top before the Tritons moved ahead for good with 2:21 to go in the first half.

Walsh had another big game against Florida Tech, scoring a game-high 25 points with five 3-pointers.  Kyei had 16 points while McLaurn and Trevon Young each had 11.  Behori made his first career start and dished out a career-best nine assists.

The win snapped a two-game skid for Eckerd, keeping the team a game up on Rollins and Tampa for second place in the SSC standings.  The Tritons' next two games are against those teams.

"It was a huge game for us," said Ryan.  "They had a great crowd tonight.  Our guys were able to respond and play through that.  It was a typical Sunshine State Conference game."

Eckerd returns to the floor on Saturday to host Rollins at 4:00 PM.