ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd men's basketball team rallied from a 13 point deficit in the second half to pull within four points in the final two minutes. However, the Tritons were unable to complete the late comeback falling to Lynn, 93-84, Saturday afternoon at the McArthur Center.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Lynn 93, Eckerd 84
Records: Eckerd 6-7 (2-3 SSC), Lynn 6-5 (2-3 SSC)
KEY MOMENT
- After the teams traded baskets to start the game, Lynn soon went on a run of seven straight points to take a 13-6 lead. A layup from Travis Bianco ended the stretch, but the Knights followed with a 9-2 run to push out by 13 with 14:17 until the half.
- The Tritons quickly responded to narrow the gap to three points at 22-19 following a 10 point scoring stretch, where Malcolm Whitlow accounted for eight points in the run. EC remained within two possessions of the Knights over the next four minutes until LU pushed out to a 10-point lead on a 7-1 run. Lynn took a 44-35 lead into half time.
- The teams traded baskets for the majority of the second half, with Lynn's lead fluctuating between eight and 13 points for the majority of the half. A Bianco layup at the 5:04 mark pulled Eckerd within six at 72-66, but the Knights quickly pushed their lead back out to nine points. However, Bianco answered with a 3-pointer in transition followed by a steal and score with 2:18 left to trim the deficit to four points. LU responded with seven straight points over the next 30 seconds to take an 84-73 lead. The Knights controlled the final two minutes to take the 93-84 win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Whitlow posted a double-double with a career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds. He missed a triple-double by four assists. Whitlow also grabbed a career-high five steals while playing the full 40 minutes.
- Admir Radoncic also recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
- Bianco rounded out the double-digit scorers with 26 points. He also grabbed seven boards.
- Eckerd held a 46-37 advantage on the boards.
- In three of the last four games, the Tritons have had a player score 30-plus points. Whitlow had 32 tonight while Bianco posted 31 on Thursday at Nova Southeastern, and Myron Hagins scored 35 against American International on December 20th.
- EC shot 40.5 percent from the field and 24.0 percent from beyond the arc compared to Lynn's 46.8 and 52.0 percent, respectively.
QUOTABLE
"We fought today, but we just didn't make enough of the right plays at the right times," said head coach
Bryan Galuski. "I am pleased with how we rebounded the ball, but we need to figure out how to defend much better."
UP NEXT
Eckerd looks to bounce back on Wednesday at Florida Tech with a 7:30 PM start.
