ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Despite a stellar perimeter shooting performance from Palm Beach Atlantic - and Marshall Riddle in particular - the Eckerd men's basketball team methodically pulled away from the Sailfish on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament for an 83-65 win.
The Sailfish knocked down 8-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half to help them stay close with the Tritons but aside from three brief leads, the shooting wasn't enough to remain step-for-step with a balanced EC attack.
A quick 7-0 burst early in the second half pushed Eckerd's lead into double-digits. Meanwhile, PBA cooled off from the perimeter and could not muster enough offense otherwise to overcome the Tritons.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 83, Palm Beach Atlantic 65
Records: Eckerd 22-6, Palm Beach Atlantic 15-17
All-Time Series: Eckerd leads, 32-6
KEY MOMENTS
- The early minutes featured dueling 3-pointers as the two teams made a combined eight triples in the first six-and-a-half minutes. The first five baskets for the Sailfish came from behind the arc, four in a row from Riddle before Lucas Morales gave his team a 15-13 lead.
- PBA's final lead came moments later on a layup by Grant Gullett. The Sailfish missed on an opportunity to grow their lead, failing to score on their next two possessions before Blake Morrow's 3-pointer gave Eckerd the lead for good at the 11:08 mark of the half. That shot began a 13-2 run for the Tritons.
- A trio of 3-pointers late in the half allowed Palm Beach Atlantic to pull within three on two occasions before Eckerd took a 40-33 lead into the half.
- After back-to-back turnovers began the second half for Eckerd, the Tritons built some separation on the heels of seven unanswered points for a 12-point lead. From that point forward, every time PBA began to chip away at its deficit Eckerd had an answer. A Marco Behori 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14 with 9:22 left and after PBA pulled within eight, another 7-0 run proved to be the final blow.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Eckerd heads into the conference tournament semifinals for the third straight year. EC won the tournament championship in 2016 but fell short in the semifinals last year to Rollins, the eventual tournament winner.
- Trevon Young posted his 13th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds while playing his final game in the McArthur Center. Ingram also went out in style with a team-high 19 points, and Paulius Zabilevicius provided a solid 28 minutes with six points and four rebounds.
- The Tritons dominated the glass yet again, holding a plus-14 rebounding margin and outscoring PBA, 20-3, in second-chance points.
- Riddle scored nearly half of his team's points, finishing with 32 including nine 3-pointers.
UP NEXT
The Tritons head to Lakeland for the tournament semifinals on Saturday where they will take on host school and third-seeded Florida Southern at 2:30 PM.
