After a Jan. 31 loss to Rollins, Eckerd College coach Tom Ryan knew his men's basketball team was at a crossroads.
It was the Tritons' third defeat in four games, and it all but crushed any chance of a regular-season conference championship.
"We need to find guys who want to play or we're not going to have the kind of season we want," Ryan said after the loss.
From that low point, which included a spirited postgame lecture from Ryan, Eckerd refocused and won five of its last seven games prior to the Sunshine State Conference tournament. That was followed by a league tourney championship, the school's first since 1994, and included wins over powers Rollins and Florida Southern.
Then came an emotional rematch with Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II South Region tournament.
The Tritons defeated Florida Southern in the conference tourney final a week earlier. The loss to Eckerd prompted Southern coach Tony Longa to say that his squad was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the way it played and he was glad the Moccassins were getting another shot at the Tritons.
Ryan shot back: "I took that as a slap in the face. It's not like they lost to a high school team."
Eckerd, which won the south region tournament last season, defeated Florida Southern again, 70-62. Then came a rematch with Rollins, and the five-game win streak, as well as the season, came to an end.
Rollins won 77-54 and eventually advanced to the national tourney in Bakersfield, Calif. It is the Tars' first appearance in the elite eight. Rollins (27-5) will face top-ranked Metropolitan State (Denver) in the first round Wednesday.
While Eckerd's season ended earlier than hoped, the Tritons finished among the nation's top 32 Division II teams. "My seniors picked us up at the end of the season and carried us this far," Ryan said. "Our defense was pretty good that last six games, and it was in the first half (against Rollins).
"I had some questions about our team near the end of the season," he said. "But our guys finally realized that you have to play hard every game, every minute, every possession. I'm happy for the seniors that it ended this way."
The seniors were Marcus Bryant, Anthony Washington and Sharrod McCree.
All three averaged 11-plus points, and Bryant had 7.6 rebounds per game. They will be missed, but Ryan used several players this season so the team should be competitive again.
Three-point specialist Steve Berg, the conference tournament's most valuable player, returns. So does Greg Plummer, Dan Dreaden, Peter Akintola, Craig Hazel, Per Hultman-boye, James Henderson and Charles Bryant. All played in at least 23 games. If next season's senior class emerges as leaders, the Tritons could be in for another long postseason ride.
"I don't know where we're going to go from here," Ryan said. "If we get some leadership, we can do well again."
FAST START: St. Petersburg College is on top of the Suncoast Conference baseball standings after winning its first five league games.
The Titans (21-6, 5-0) are trying to capture their fourth straight regular-season conference championship.
"The thing about it is, I don't think we've played our best baseball yet," coach Dave Pano said.
"I don't know what it is. But we can be better offensively, we can play better defense. I just think we have to play better with the toughest part of our schedule coming up."
Pano didn't mention pitching because the staff has been good. The Titans have a 2.88 ERA, which is fourth best in the state. Todd Redmond, Scott Kelly, Reidier Gonzalez and Shawn Williams have pitched well.
SPC has a stretch of six games, which started Friday against Polk CC and includes conference powers Manatee CC and Pasco-Hernando CC.
ECKERD BASEBALL: The bats need to wake up or Eckerd could be in for a long season.
The Tritons have struggled on offense, which has been a strength in the past. They are hitting .255 as a team, which is last in the conference.
The pitching is getting better, but there's room to improve for a staff with a 4.89 ERA. Right-hander Jason Wishin has pitched well. He is 1-2 with a 2.78 ERA, which is fifth best in the league. Wishin was the conference pitcher of the week March 7.
The Tritons defeated SUNY-New Paltz twice Wednesday to improve to 13-17 prior to league games with Florida Tech. Eckerd will play 15 of 19 games against conference opponents the rest of the season.
