Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern couldn't recover from a 20-6 run by Eckerd over the final six minutes of the first half as they suffered an 84-70 loss to the 12th-ranked Tritons in Sunshine State Conference action at Jenkins Field House.
The Tritons first half closing run, which was capped by Jerrick Stevenson banking in a 3-point shot with six seconds left, helped turn a 26-all tie into a 46-32 Eckerd lead at the half.
"We were hoping we'd be able to weather the storm and go into the locker room down 11 at the half, but then Stevenson banks in that 3-pointer that put them up 14 at the half. That was a huge swing in the game and something we couldn't recover from," Moccasin first year coach Mike Donnelly said following his team's third home loss of the season.
FSC is now 5-3 at home on the season, including a 2-2 record in SSC play and had its two game home win streak snapped with Saturday's setback. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Mocs are 54-9 on its home court, including posting a 22-6 mark in home SSC games.
With the loss, the reigning National Champion Moccasins fall to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in the SSC, while Eckerd extended its winning streak to 14 consecutive games and improved to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the SSC. The Tritons, who snapped a seven game losing streak to the Mocs in Saturday's win, are still the only undefeated team in SSC play this season.
Saturday's win by the Tritons was its first in the series since collecting an 85-75 win in St. Petersburg on Feb. 20, 2013. Since that win, the Mocs had won seven straight games in the series, including sweeping the season series the past two seasons and FSC also earned wins over Eckerd in the SSC Tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In addition, it was Eckerd's first win Lakeland since picking up a 73-65 victory on Jan. 27, 2007.
Stevenson, who is a senior and a graduate of Lakeland's George Jenkins High School, would put an even bigger dagger into the Mocs upset hopes in the opening two minutes of the second half as he drilled back-to-back treys in a span of 19 seconds to give the Tritons a 54-36 lead with 17:54 left in the game. It would be a lead Eckerd would never relinquish the remainder of the game.
"Eckerd is a very good team. They are so good at picking up loose balls, tipping balls and keeping balls in play," the Moccasin coach added. "We were just never able to make that critical stop we needed to make. Of course, we are having trouble getting those critical stops, just not tonight, but the entire season."
On the night, Eckerd shot 56 percent from the field, including shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first half. In addition, the Tritons shot 47 percent from the 3-point line, including going 4-for-8 (50 percent) from downtown in the second half.
After Kevin Walsh hit a trey to give the Tritons a 57-38 lead with 16:48 left in the game, the Mocs would used an 11-4 run capped by two free throws from senior guard Dominique Williams (Haines City, Fla.) to drop Eckerd's lead to 61-49 with 14:04 left in the game.
Williams, who scored a team high tying 17 points in the loss, made history early in Saturday's game as his free throw with just 72 seconds into the game that helped him become the 40th Moccasin to score 1,000 points in a career. Williams has scored 1,016 career points and is now 37th on the school's all-time scoring chart.
"I am really happy for 'Nique. It is a well-deserved honor," said Donnelly. "He has had a great career, won a lot of games and has now etched himself into the history books by joining the 1,000 Point Club."
The Tritons would answer the Mocs run with a run of its own as they would score 10 of next 12 points to push out to a 71-51 advantage with 10:10 left in the contest. Trevon Young and Drushaun McLaurn combined to score eight of Eckerd's 10 points during the run.
FSC, though, wouldn't go away as Williams hit back-to-back treys to jump start a 9-2 Moccasin run to push FSC within 13 points at 73-60 with 6:15 remaining. On one trip down the floor during the run, the Mocs had six consecutive offensive possessions that lasted nearly a minute.
That would as close as the Mocs would get as the Tritons closed the game by scoring 11 of the final 21 points to seal its 14 point victory.
"I am pleased that the guys battled the entire second half tonight, it was great to see," Donnelly stated. "I've been doing this a long time and if you keep doing things the right way good things will eventually happen and that's what I'm going to tell the team. It's still early and we have a lot of basketball left to play, but we just need to keep battling, keep working and good things will happen. We're still a work in progress."
In addition to Williams' 17 points, senior guard Dylan Travis (Omaha, Neb.) also finished with 17 points and added a team high nine rebounds on the night. Two other Mocs, junior guard Michael Volovic (Carmel, Ind.) and Sheldon Zablotny (Erie, Pa.), each scored nine points in the game.
McLaurn led a balanced Triton offensive attack with 14 points as six Eckerd players scored in double figures in the win. In addition to McLaurn, Walsh added 13 points, while Stevenson and Ray Darnell each had 12 points. Obi Kyei and E.J. Moody finished with 10 points for the game.
One bright spot on the night for the Mocs was play of freshman forward Jarel Spellman (Richmond, Va.) as the 6-foot-10 Spellman finished the night with seven points, eight rebounds and blocked five shots.
"Jarel was really active tonight, was able to block some shots and gave us some good minutes in the post," the Mocs coach said.
The Mocs finished the game with a 42-33 edge on the glass, including 19 offensive rebounds. Both teams also took care of the ball as Eckerd finished with 12 turnovers and the Mocs had 13 turnovers, but those 13 turnovers led to 21 Triton points.
FSC jumped out out a 9-3 lead in the opening three-plus minutes of the game and led 15-6 when the Tritons used a 14-3 run that began with a trey from Moody, who is a graduate of Lakeland High School and was capped by a lay-up from McLaurn to take a 20-18 lead with 10:21 left in the opening half.
"We normally aren't a zone team, but with R.J. (June) being out, we started two bigs (Dylan and Jarel). We wanted to go big and show them a different look and it worked as we jumped out to an early lead," said Donnelly when asked about starting the game in a zone defense. "I thought Eckerd took a while to adjust and then they adjusted and we really couldn't counter."
Following McLaurn's basket, the Mocs used five straight points, including a 3-pointer from redshirt sophomore forward Stephen Turner (McCordsville, Ind.) to take a 23-22 lead. That would be the final lead of the game for the Mocs as Eckerd would score six of the next nine points to tie the game at 26.
The Mocs finished the game shooting 34 percent from the field and they shot just 31 percent (10-for-32) from the 3-point line.
Eckerd held a 42-10 edge in the points in the paint and outscored the Mocs bench, 31-17 in the win.
The Mocs will now take a week off from action before returning to the court next Saturday, Jan. 16 as they travel to Davie for a 4 p.m. SSC contest against Nova Southeastern. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as part of the Division II National Game of the Week package.
