Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - There was a fair share of hype surrounding a top-25 matchup on Saturday afternoon in the McArthur Center.
The game lived up to its billing, as the No. 7/6 Eckerd Tritons pulled away for a 90-74 win over No. 23 Barry University in front of a raucous crowd for Eckerd's 16th straight win.
Barry (12-3, 5-2 SSC) entered the contest with the highest-scoring offense in the SSC at 93.9 points per game, fifth most in NCAA Division II, but Tritons' head coach
Tom Ryan and company made certain their SSC-leading defense would prove triumphant. A key influence on shutting down Barry's high-powered offense as a team was to limit Yunio Barrueta, the conference's leading scorer, to eight points under his scoring average.
"Our energy level was very good the whole night, and [Barrueta] is a very good player, so to hold him to 17 points is a great accomplishment," Ryan said. "Multiple guys had to guard him, and they all gave him all they could. For normal people, 17 points is a great night, but we were happy to hold him there."
Obi Kyei and
Jerrick Stevenson were given the primary responsibilities on Barrueta, but
Brian Cobb and
E.J. Moody also spent a handful of minutes with the task. All of them made it difficult Barrueta to get open looks.
Cobb hasn't logged as many minutes as his counterparts in the frontcourt, but has made the most of his opportunities all season. The senior did so again today.
Cobb first entered the contest with 13:38 remaining in the game after the Buccaneers erased a 14-point deficit and took a 54-53 lead. During that stretch, he matched up with Barrueta and pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds that led to four of Eckerd's 15 second chance points, including a tip-in bucket of his own.
Ryan praised his senior forward's work ethic and continual performance.
"He hasn't gotten as many opportunities as he probably did last year, and that's because of how Obi, Trevon [Young], and Ray [Darnell] have played," Ryan said, "But
Brian Cobb is a blue-collar, hard-working player who did exactly what we've been asking of him all year."
Ryan also made note of freshman
Marco Behori stepping up early and often for the Tritons
(16-1, 8-0 SSC). Play was stopped two minutes into the game for an injury to Moody, so Behori was called into action and hit a quick 3-pointer. Behori finished the game with a career-high seven points as well as four rebounds. Moody, for his part, displayed his toughness and leadership to finish the night with six points knocking down both 3-pointers he attempted.
Entering the day, Barry had been dominant on the offensive glass all season long, averaging 13 offensive rebounds per game. However, Eckerd limited the Buccaneers to a season-low five offensive rebounds as the Tritons pulled down 30 defensive boards. On the other end, Eckerd grabbed 12 offensive rebounds to Barry's 18 defensive to give the Tritons a 42-23 advantage on the glass.
"We've been out-rebounded the last two games, and that's one of the things we always talk about along with turnovers and free throws," Ryan said. "We preached that heavily since these guys are such a good offensive rebounding team and it showed."
Although Eckerd's defensive performance was a treat, it was not the only thing going for EC on the night. The Tritons connected on 29 of their 59 shots from the field including 9 of their 19 from 3-point range for 49.2 percent and 47.4 percent performances respectively. Eckerd also shook off recent free throw performances and hit 23 of its 31 attempts from the line for 74.2 percent, the highest since December 16 against Miles College (87.5 percent).
The Tritons utilized a balanced attack to strain the Buccaneers defense. When Barry guarded the paint, Eckerd hit from deep. When Barry closed out on the shooters, the Tritons would find a way inside either through driving it through traffic or dishing it off to the post. Even when Barry tried to apply a full-court pressure, EC used its speed and athleticism to break free for quick scores.
A layup by Barry's Undra Mitchem with 1:38 on the clock cut the Tritons' lead to 76-69, but the Tritons would answer with a 14-5 run to close the game with Barry's last bucket coming in the final second. The run was highlighted with free throws as the Tritons hit 12-of-14 from the line in the final 1:12. That stretch included a span where Eckerd hit 5-of-6 uninterrupted attempts due to a pair of Barry players receiving technical fouls and fouling out of the contest. A pair of Kyei free throws with seven seconds remaining gave Eckerd its biggest lead of the contest at 90-72.
Stevenson scored 25 points to lead all scorers and grabbed five rebounds. Kyei's game-high nine rebounds was one shy of a double-double as he finished with 10 points plus three blocked shots.
Kevin Walsh stayed hot with a 3-for-5 performance from 3-point range, two of which were heavily contested, and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for 12 points. He also grabbed five rebounds. Darnell rounded-out the double-figure scoring with 11 points to go along with five rebounds.
The Tritons look to keep the momentum rolling as they return to action on Wednesday, January 20, in Daytona Beach against provisional SSC member Embry-Riddle in a non-conference matchup. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 PM following the women's contest.
