BASKETBALL GAMEDAY: Eckerd Takes On Rollins in Conference Semifinals

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Eckerd men's basketball team will attempt to take another step in its quest to repeat as Sunshine State Conference tournament championships when the Tritons take on Rollins College in the semifinal round on Saturday.
 

Rollins (19-10, 12-6 SSC) vs. Eckerd (21-7, 13-5 SSC)
WHEN	Saturday, March 4 | 7:30 PM
WHERE	ICI Center; Daytona Beach, Fla.
WATCH	Live Video | Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA	Twitter (@ECTritons) | Instagram (@EckerdTritons)
LAST MEETING	Eckerd 93, Rollins 71 (2/4/17)

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Eckerd shot 50 percent from the floor and posted its second 16-point win over Florida Southern in five days, 88-72, in the McArthur Center.  Drushaun McLaurn (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Obi Kyei (16 points, 12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for the Tritons in the victory.  Trevon Young added 16 points while Kevin Walsh poured in 13.

Rollins built a 17-point lead over Lynn in the first half, but had to fend off a second-half rally by the Fighting Knights to advance with a 73-71 win.  Lynn had a chance to win at the buzzer but missed a 3-point attempt.  Connor Mckim's layup with seven seconds left put the Tars over the top.

REGULAR SEASON RESULTS: Eckerd swept the Tars in both meetings during the regular season.  The Tritons first scored an 82-73 win in Winter Park on December 10, using a 7-0 run late in the game to seal the victory.  Five Tritons scored in double figures in the game led by Kevin Walsh's 17 points.

The return match in St. Petersburg carried much less drama as Eckerd breezed to a 93-71 win on February 4.  Matt Beneduci came off the bench to score a career-high 31 points behind seven 3-pointers.  Walsh added 17 with five 3's, and the Tritons shot 56.6 percent from the floor.

NOTES AND NUMBERS: Kevin Walsh scored the 1000th point of his career on Wednesday with his final point of the game - a free throw - with under a minute to play.  He is the 19th player in program history to reach the millenium milestone...Eckerd head coach Tom Ryan is 19 games away from tying Jim Harley for the most wins in program history.  Ryan enters tonight's game with 402 victories to his credit...Eckerd (81.9) and Rollins (81.1) average almost the same amount of points per game...The Tritons lead the SSC in scoring defense, giving up an average of 73.1 points per game...Rollins tops the conference in 3-point shooting, knocking down 41.4 percent of its attempts and makes an average of 10 per game...Rollins and Eckerd have each won four SSC tournament titles.  Eckerd's last championship came in 2016; Rollins is hunting its first since 2011.