Men's basketball comes up short on Senior Night

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle on Senior Night to the visiting Barry Buccaneers on Saturday by a score of 85-79.

Eckerd scored the game's first seven points after a three-pointer from Wyatt Triestman and a basket by Koa Baker to open the game. Barry answered with a 12-0 run to claim its first lead and remained in front until Baker's layup around the 11-minute mark capped a 6-0 spurt for the Tritons to even the score at 17-17.

The two teams stayed within one possession of each other over the next four minutes until the Buccaneers pulled away for a double-digit lead at 32-21 with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Eckerd closed the period on an 11-4 run to pull within four at the break. Four different players scored during the surge, including five points from Miquel Llompart. Barry led 36-32 at halftime.

Triestman got the Tritons within a single possession two minutes into the second half, cutting a six-point deficit in half before back-to-back field goals from Dante Bouchard and Jacob Davis gave the team its first lead of the half at 43-42. The score was tied three more times over the next five minutes until Barry reclaimed the advantage and led for the next three minutes.

A three-point play by Tim Taiwo and a layup from Triestman pulled the Tritons even once more at 59 with eight minutes to go. The teams traded baskets to make it 61-61, but the visitors pulled ahead for good after stringing together a 13-3 run to take a 10-point lead with 2:45 remaining.

Trailing by seven with 30 seconds left, the Tritons continued to battle as a 3-pointer from Llompart cut the deficit to four. After two missed free throws by Barry, Triestman converted a layup to make it 81-79. The Buccaneers went 4-for-4 at the line down the stretch and came up with two defensive stops to secure the six-point victory.

Five Tritons scored in double figures, led by Llompart's 19 points. Taiwo added 14 off the bench, while Triestman added 13. 

With the loss, Eckerd ends its season with a 13-14 overall record.