ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, falling to the No. 4 ranked Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish by a score of 83-69.
The visitors grabbed the early momentum and jumped out to a double-digit advantage at 14-2 after holding the Tritons to just one made shot through the first eight minutes of action.
Timothy Thompson's layup ended the drought for the Tritons before two straight baskets by
Tim Taiwo brought the team back within 10. The Sailfish countered with another run of their own, this time stretching their advantage out to as many as 19 points with just under six minutes remaining in the half. Eight straight points from
Wyatt Triestman helped keep the deficit under 20, and a pair of buckets by
Koa Baker later trimmed the gap to 14.
Jacob Davis' layup with 30 seconds to go made it a 38-26 score at the halftime break. The Tritons held the Sailfish to just one made shot in the final four minutes.
Triestman opened the second half by scoring Eckerd's first eight points, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and finishing a layup in the opening two minutes. His final bucket during that stretch pulled the Tritons within six, and Taiwo followed with a fastbreak layup a minute later to cut the deficit to five. Eckerd stayed within striking distance over the next four minutes, capped by
Miquel Llompart's three-pointer that made it 49–47 at the 13:12 mark. Made shots from Davis and
Ollie Pasque kept the Tritons within a possession approaching the halfway point, but endured a lengthy scoring run from the visitors that eventually put the game out of reach. Overall, the Sailfish closed the game on a 29-18 scoring run, but saw a 19-4 differential in their favor over a seven-minute stretch and grew a lead out to as many as 20.
Triestman led all scorers in the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Baker added 12 off the bench. Davis also eclipsed double figures with 10 points.
The Tritons will remain home to host Embry-Riddle on Saturday.
