MELBOURNE, Fla. - After trailing throughout the second half, the Eckerd men's basketball team rallied to pull within six points late. However, the Tritons were unable to complete the comeback as they fell, 93-86, at Florida Tech Saturday afternoon.
Eckerd jumped out to a slight lead over the first 10 minutes of the opening half before the Panthers went on a 13-0 run to take a 34-25 favor. EC followed with seven consecutive points to trim its deficit to two before Florida tech took a 47-37 lead at the break.
FIT opened the second half with a 9-2 run and later pushed out to a 66-45 lead at the 12:16 mark. However, the Tritons rallied with a 21-6 run over a five-minute stretch to cut their deficit to 11 at the 4:50 mark. A Kent Garard layup with 2:11 left pulled EC within seven (85-78), but the Panthers made their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Florida Tech 93, Eckerd 86
RECORDS: Eckerd 5-18 (3-17), Florida Tech 13-12 (7-10 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Garard led Eckerd with a career-high 26 points and five steals. He went 11-for-15 from the field and pulled down six boards.
- Daniel Love and Gianfranco Grafals rounded out the double-figure scorers with 25 and 21 points, respectively.
- Grafals led EC on the boards with seven.
- Eckerd distributed the ball well with a season-high 26 assists. David Swedura led the team with seven.
- Eckerd closes out the season, marking the end of the careers of the Tritons' three seniors: Leonard Okiti, Doug Williams, Jr., and Colton Ryan.
QUOTABLE
"We battled to the end today. Unfortunately, we ran out of time," said head coach Bryan Galuski '98. "Wishing our seniors all the best. They are outstanding young men who have a very bright future ahead of them, and wore the Eckerd uniform proudly."
