Tritons Advance to Second Round of South Regional

ATLANTA - The Eckerd men's basketball team led for nearly the entire game on Saturday night against Valdosta State (Ga.) in the first round of the NCAA South Regional Tournament.

Yet the Tritons had to hold on in the final seconds to send the Blazers home after an 86-81 win in Forbes Arena in downtown Atlanta.

A trio of vital defensive stops on VSU's last three possessions helped curtail a late run that saw the Blazers erase an 11-point deficit to tie the game with 1:40 left.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 86, Valdosta State 81
Records: Eckerd 25-6, Valdosta State 26-5
All-Time Series: Tied, 3-3

KEY MOMENTS

• The Tritons came out on fire, scoring the game's first eight points and making their first four shots from the floor.  VSU slowed Eckerd's momentum for a few minutes, but the Tritons soon went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-point lead with 9:14 left in the half on back-to-back 3-pointers by Kristiyan Stavrev and Travis Bianco.
• Six minutes later, Valdosta cut the gap to three on a Jimmy Kodet 3-pointer.  Drushaun McLaurn responded with a traditional 3-point play.  KJ James then drained a 3-pointer to again pull VSU within three before Stavrev canned another triple.  The Tritons, however, went scoreless in the final 1:19 as Valdosta State again cut the lead down to three at halftime, 45-42.
• The two teams traded blows throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Eckerd managed to hang onto the lead throughout.  Another 8-0 run again extended EC's lead to 11 (74-63) with 6:41 to play.
• In a repeat of their effort late in the first half, VSU answered with a 14-4 run fueled by eight straight points by James to make it a one-point game with 3:00 left.
• Eckerd briefly went back up by four, but VSU finally tied the game with two baskets in a span of 30 seconds capped by a Jimmy Kodet dunk in transition.  On the next possession, the Tritons worked the ball inside to Trevon Young who finished at the rim for a huge basket.
• The Tritons then got the first of three vital defensive stops when McLaurn swatted away a jumper by Clay Guillozet.  Eckerd turned the ball over, but got another stop after rushing James into a tough shot.  McLaurn grabbed the rebound and was fouled, making the front end of a one-and-one but missing the second.
• The last of the three stops followed as Beau Justice missed a potential tying 3-pointer, and Behori snagged the rebound.  After VSU quickly fouled him, Behori calmly made both of his free throws to seal the victory.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• The win was Eckerd's first in the national tournament since 2012 when the Tritons defeated West Georgia, 60-53.  It was also the team's 25th win of the season, tied for the second-most in program history.
• The Tritons won despite not making a 3-pointer in the second half.  Eckerd instead found a way to get to the basket and finish in the paint shooting 59.2 percent inside the arc in the final 20 minutes.
• McLaurn had a fantastic game all-around with 27 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks.  Behori recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Young also added 16 points.
• Eckerd turned the ball over just seven times, its second-lowest total of the season.
• The SSC went 3-0 in the first round as Barry and Florida Southern also won their games.

QUOTABLE
"We knew they could score and they proved that to be correct.  We did hold them below their season average and we we are able to that defensively, we usually have success." - EC head coach Tom Ryan

UP NEXT
The Tritons face a very familiar opponent in the second round taking on eighth-seeded Florida Southern. The Moccasins came back from a 21-point deficit to knock off top-seeded and host Morehouse (Ga.) in overtime.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM on Sunday.