ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, falling at home to the Lynn Fighting Knights by a score of 86-67.
It was a fast-paced and high-scoring opening half that saw 100 combined points between the two teams.
Tim Taiwo began the contest with a three-pointer on the first possession, the start of eight made triples for the Tritons through the first 20 minutes. Back-to-back baskets by
Jacob Davis later moved the advantage for Eckerd out to six at 10-4 before a pair of free throws from
Wyatt Triestman gave the Tritons their largest cushion of the game around the 13-minute mark to make it a 20-12 game. Lynn rattled off a 13-5 scoring run over the next three minutes to draw even at 25-25. and later followed it up an 8-2 spurt to grab a double-digit lead at 45-35. Eckerd collected six of the final eight points scored in the frame, seeing two made shots from Taiwo to pull within six at 53-47 going into the break. The Tritons hit 8-10 from behind the three-point line in the half and shot 62 percent overall as a team.
Both defenses stepped up in a much lower-scoring second half. Eckerd got the margin down to five early on in the period, but was met by a scoring surge from Lynn that helped moved the gap out to 14 points just six minutes in. The Fighting Knights saw the differential reach as many as 23 before closing the game with a 19-point win.Â
Miquel Llompart led the Tritons with 20 points and six made threes, also tallying seven rebounds and a steal. Triestman also added 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Eckerd drops to 4-3 with the loss and 1-2 in the SSC. The team will be back in action at home vs. Lincoln (Pa.) on Friday.
