Late Run by 10th-Ranked Bucs Sinks Tritons

Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - When the Eckerd men's basketball team hosted No. 10 Barry earlier this month, the Bucs used a barrage of 3-pointers to help pull out a double-overtime win.

In the rematch today in Miami Shores, Barry again took to launching - and making - shots from behind the arc to fuel an 84-72 victory and complete a regular season sweep of the Tritons.

It was a trio of 3-pointers from Arie Williams that made the difference, coming as part of an 11-0 run that turned a tight game into a 15-point Barry lead with 5:30 to play.

The Tritons (14-6, 7-4 SSC) managed to cut the Bucs' lead down to eight with 51 seconds left, but Barry made good on all four of its free throw attempts in the final minute to secure the win.

Eckerd battled back from a 13-point deficit early in the second half, going on a 17-5 run to pull within one after a Matt Beneduci jumper with 10:39 left.  Elvar Fridriksson, however, answered with a 3-pointer and soon afterward, the Bucs (17-2, 10-2 SSC) went on their decisive run.

The first half was close for the full 20 minutes with three ties and four lead changes.  EC took its last lead at the 5:46 mark on a tip-in by Admir Radoncic, but Fridriksson scored eight straight points to give Barry the lead again.  The Tritons then went on a quick 7-0 run to narrow the gap before the Bucs took a narrow 34-30 advantage into halftime.

Aside from the 13-point lead early in the second half, the game continued to remain close until Williams sparked Barry with his long-range shooting.

Beneduci gave Eckerd a solid performance off the bench, scoring all of his 14 points in the second half including a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc.  Obi Kyei and Drushaun McLaurn both chipped in 11 points and Trevon Young narrowly missed a double-double with seven points and 11 rebounds.  Eckerd struggled from the floor, shooting 39.3 percent, although the Tritons did connect on 9-of-20 attempts from 3-point range.

Fridriksson and Williams had huge games for the Bucs, scoring 30 and 20 points respectively.

The loss drops Eckerd 2.5 games behind Barry for first place in the SSC standings.  The Tritons are alone in second place, a half-game ahead of Tampa and Rollins.

Eckerd returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to face Florida Tech at 7:30 PM.  The Panthers won the first meeting between the schools on November 16, 86-84.