ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's basketball team rallied late Saturday afternoon at the McArthur Center but was unable to make up the difference falling to Barry, 90-77, in SSC action.
Despite the Buccaneers pulling ahead by 18 late in the game, the Tritons strung together two late surges to pull within seven points in the final minute before Barry pulled away.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Barry 90; Eckerd 77
Records: Eckerd 5-4 (2-1 SSC); Barry 6-2 (2-1 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Barry started the game on a 9-2 run to take an early lead. BU's lead fluctuated between three and nine points over the majority of the half before a Raivis Scerbinskis 3-pointer put them up by 11 with 3:24 left. However, a Malcolm Whitlow layup with 1:34 left ignited a 6-0 Triton run to trail by five (40-35) at halftime.
- A Whitlow jumper to start the second half cut EC deficit to three points, but Barry followed with a 9-2 stretch to pull back out by double-digits. The Bucs used a 12-5 scoring stretch to pull ahead by 18 points midway through the half. The Tritons followed with a run of seven consecutive points capped by a Myron Hagins triple to pull within 11.
- The Bucs strung together seven straight points to push back out by 18, but EC again responded with another run of nine consecutive points ending with another Hagins 3-pointer to pull within 77-68 with 3:50 left. Another Hagins triple from the left corner with 1:07 remaining cut Eckerd's deficit to seven, but the Tritons were unable to make up the difference as Barry made eight of nine free throws in the final minute for a 90-77 win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Whitlow led Eckerd with a career-high 27 points. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists while playing the full 40 minutes.
- Hagins and Travis Bianco rounded out the double-figure scorers with 21 and 14 points, respectively.
- Bianco led EC on the boards with nine while Hagins grabbed seven rebounds.
- The Tritons shot 45.5 percent from the floor but struggled from the perimeter shooting just 19.0 percent.
QUOTABLE
"I was not pleased with how we defended in transition and how we executed our defensive rotations in the half-court. We were behind defensively most of the game and I have to do a better job of creating our identity on both ends of the floor," said head coach
Bryan Galuski. "We are capable of being a good defensive team. It's a young season and we have lots of time to improve.
UP NEXT
Eckerd enters nearly two weeks off before traveling to Lakeland for the Florida Southern Classic on December 20, facing American International College (Mass.) at 5:30 PM.
