Balanced Scoring Sets Tone as Tritons Win Home Opener

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A dominant first half set the tone for the Eckerd men's basketball team in its home opener on Sunday, building a 25-point lead by halftime on the way to an 85-56 win over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in the McArthur Center.

Five Tritons scored in double figures while the Eckerd defense forced 23 turnovers in the victory.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 85, UPR-Mayaguez 56
Records: Eckerd 3-0; UPR-Mayaguez 0-1

KEY MOMENTS

• The Bulldogs managed to stay close in the first five minutes, holding a pair of early leads and tying the game at 9-9 on a putback with 15:15 left in the half.
• Eckerd took over from that point forward, going on a 10-0 run and a 13-2 run in building a 19-point lead at the 6:40 mark.  The lead grew to 25 by halftime.
• Back-to-back layups by Myron Hagins and Drushaun McLaurn extended the lead to 27 early in the second half before UPR-Mayaguez went on a 12-1 run to pull within 16 with 13:57 to play.  The Tritons, however, responded with seven straight points capped by a Marquis Gilbert 3-pointer, and the lead stayed above 20 points for the rest of the game.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• Five players scored in double figures in a balanced scoring effort, led by Gilbert's 13 points.  Damien Gordon and Gianni Dailey each scored 12 while McLaurn scored 11 and Travis Bianco had 10.
• Eckerd held a huge edge in points off turnovers, scoring 21 points off 23 Bulldog miscues.  The Tritons turned the ball over 16 times, but UPR-M was only able to convert those into two points.
• The Tritons out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 42-30.

UP NEXT
The Tritons host Maine-Fort Kent on Tuesday at 7:30 PM.