Tritons Edged at Saint Leo in Overtime

SAINT LEO, Fla. - The Eckerd men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit, including a Gianfranco Grafals triple with 13 seconds left to force overtime. However, EC was unable to complete the comeback, falling at Saint Leo, 87-85, Wednesday night at the Marion Bowman Center.

The teams swapped baskets early on before EC jumped out to a 21-13 lead midway through the first half. SLU responded with a 10-0 run to take a three-point lead with 5:23 left before taking a 39-31 favor at the half. 

EC cut the Lions' lead to three early in the second half, but Saint Leo followed with an 11-2 run to take a double-digit favor (59-48) at the 11:27 mark. However, Eckerd responded with nine consecutive points to trim its deficit to two. EC and SLU traded baskets over the next eight minutes as the Lions held a 75-70 lead with 30 seconds remaining. Kent Garard then made two free throws, and the Tritons forced a Lions turnover on the ensuing possession. Trailing by three with 13 seconds left, Grafals netted a triple from the top of the key to tie the game at 75-75 and force overtime. 

At 3:31 in overtime, SLU went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. EC rallied to pull within one, 84-83, on a Daniel Love jumper with 18 seconds left. However, Eckerd was unable to get a clean look on the basket in the final seconds as Saint Leo made three free throws to seal the game.  

HOW IT ENDED 
FINAL: Saint Leo 87, Eckerd 85 (OT)
RECORDS: Eckerd 3-12 (1-11 SSC); Saint Leo 8-9 (4-6 SSC) 

NOTES AND NUMBERS 

• Grafals led the team with 27 points, while Love (20) and Garard (12) rounded out the double-figure scorers. 
• Grafals posted his second double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds. 
• Grafals and Love have both scored 20 or more points for the third straight game.
• Eckerd played in its third straight overtime game and fifth of the season. 
• Eckerd shot a season-best 52.3 percent from the floor. 

QUOTABLE 
"I thought we played well enough to win tonight, and I am proud of our guys for their effort for 45 minutes," said head coach Bryan Galuski '98. "We are growing and getting better as a team; unfortunately, taking another overtime loss hurts."

UP NEXT 
Eckerd travels to No. 2 Nova Southeastern on Saturday for a 4:00 PM tip.