ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons men's basketball team won its third straight game on Wednesday, defeating the Tampa Spartans by a score of 88-76 from inside the McArthur Center.
It was a fast start for the Tritons, jumping out to an 8-2 lead through the first three minutes after seeing baskets from three different players.
Jacob Davis' sixth point of the game at 16:37 doubled up the Spartans at 10-5, but a scoring drought for the team allowed the visitors to even things up at 10 apiece. The Tritons broke the shooting slump around the 11-minute mark and rattled off nine straight points for the largest lead of the game at the time, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from
Brady Patterson off the bench. Despite seeing Tampa get back within a possession, Eckerd led the rest of the half and saw its margin reach double figures following a
Koa Baker basket that made it 33-20 with six minutes showing on the clock.
Carlos Cortijo sent in a last-second layup to cap off a high-scoring first half and give the Tritons a 42-33 advantage at the break. Eckerd shot 47 percent in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Tampa collected the first eight points of the second half and cut the gap down to just a point before Patterson secured the first field goal of the frame around 16:00. The Spartans continued to use their momentum and eventually grabbed their first lead since early in the first half after a bucket made it a 45-44 score in their favor.
Tim Taiwo's dunk in traffic gave the lead right back and jump started a 6-0 scoring run for the Tritons. Cortijo's three-pointer minutes later halted another scoring spurt for the Spartans and made it a 56-52 lead for Eckerd, with the advantage remaining within a range of 4-8 points over the span of the next seven minutes. With just over four minutes remaining, Baker's layup extended the cushion to 10 at 71-61.
Wyatt Triestman connected on a triple to the margin to 12 two minutes later before free throws down the stretch sealed the 12-point win.
Eckerd shot 47 percent in the win and had four players in double figures. Baker led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Patterson ended his night with 15.
Miquel Llompart and Triestman each added 13, while Davis missed a near double-double with nine points and nine boards. The Tritons out-rebounded the Spartans 48-29.
The Tritons improve to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in SSC play with the win. The team will be back in action Saturday to host Lynn.
