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College basketball

Moccasins bounce Eckerd, advance to final

LAKELAND -- Entering its Sunshine State Conference Tournament semifinal against Florida Southern, Eckerd had three goals: rebound, shoot the ball well and keep the Moccasins from doing the same.

Despite falling short on all three, Eckerd held Florida Southern in check -- until the final three minutes. Then the Moccasins had a 10-0 run, seven coming from Matt Story, for a 77-68 win.

The win put No. 2 seed and host Florida Southern in tonight's championship against No. 1 seed Rollins at 8. Rollins defeated Barry 48-37.

Third-seeded Eckerd finished 22-6 and waits for a possible invitation to the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.

"We knew defense was going to be the key for us," Eckerd coach Tom Ryan said. "And for the most part we kept their shooting down. We just didn't make plays down the stretch."

That stretch began with three minutes left and Eckerd clinging to a 68-67 advantage. But the Tritons offense, which received key baskets from Cerwin Thompson, Marcus Bryant and Sharrod McCree throughout, went cold.

While the Tritons missed five shots from the field and two from the line, the Moccasins (22-6) took the lead on a Story 3-pointer and sealed it after two more baskets from him.

Story led with 24 points, and FSC's Jean-Noel Leuly and Chris Brooks each scored 14. Thompson led Eckerd with 20 points.

In the women's semi, Rollins pushed Tampa to overtime, then unleashed Shannon Pranger. The Tars' leading scorer with 11 points, Pranger scored four of those and had seven of her 14 rebounds in overtime for a 49-44 win.

UT (22-7) missed a chance to advance to the final for the first time since 2000. The Spartans had a chance to win in regulation, but a Liz Wetenkamp layup bounced off the rim. Jessie McDowell led UT with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Melissa Leonard added 11.

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