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College basketball

Foes will be familiar in fight for SSC title

Eckerd appears to have the edge in third meeting with Tampa, but coach says anything can happen.

By ROD GIPSON
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

TAMPA -- After their teams closed the regular season against each other, in their second meeting this season but the first in more than a month, the coaches of Eckerd College and the University of Tampa had the same thing to say: "I don't want to face them again."

And wouldn't you know it, that is exactly what they will do when the Sunshine State Conference men's tournament tips off Saturday at the George Jenkins Fieldhouse on the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

But if previous events are an indication, playing UT again might not be a bad thing for Eckerd. The Tritons, the No. 3 seed at 21-5 and 10-4 in the SSC, dominated the Spartans in their two regular-season games. Sixth-seeded UT (15-11, 6-8) lost to Eckerd by 36 and 13 points.

Eckerd coach Tom Ryan is cautiously optimistic.

"Tampa plays hard," Ryan said. "If you look at the league, they are one of the hardest-playing teams in there. And everybody has played everyone and these teams know each other.

"Anybody can beat anybody."

But Eckerd has to feel pretty good about its chances.

The Tritons are on a six-game winning streak and getting excellent play from Sharrod McCree, Marcus Bryant, Anthony Washington and Cerwin Thompson. McCree leads the team with an average of 14 points, and Bryant averages 13. Washington scores 11 per game and Thompson adds 10.

Tampa is the defending champion of the tournament but has a vastly different lineup this season. That is, if coach Richard Schmidt even knows who will be in the lineup.

The Spartans have battled injuries and illness all season, with as many as 10 players missing games. That has forced Schmidt to give inexperienced players (some new to the program, some reserve players) more playing time.

UT is led by junior forward Achille Ngounou, who averages 15 points and nine rebounds.

"We're pretty thin," Schmidt said. "In some games we've only had nine guys. But our walk-on guys and younger guys are doing a pretty good job. They're in there playing pretty tough."

On the women's side, second-seeded Tampa, No. 3 Rollins and top seed Florida Southern should be in the mix for the crown. Under first-year coach Tom Jessee, the Spartans set a school record with 21 regular-season wins. Now UT will try to improve its record of making the NCAA Tournament. It has made two appearances despite eight winning seasons in the past 10.

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