No. 16 Barry Pulls Away in Final Minute to Defeat Tritons

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - No. 16 Barry scored the last seven points of the game, fending off an upset bid by the Eckerd men's basketball team on Saturday and emerging with an 80-74 win over the Tritons.

A 3-pointer by Barry's Marcelo Perez with 42 seconds left gave the Bucs the lead, and the host team's defense did the rest by blocking Eckerd's last three shot attempts.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: No. 16 Barry 80, Eckerd 74
Records: Eckerd 7-2 (2-1 SSC), Barry 6-1 (2-1 SSC)

KEY MOMENTS

• Eckerd missed 10 straight shots early in the contest but Barry was unable to take much of an advantage, holding a 9-4 lead six minutes into the game. A Myron Hagins layup broke the cold spell.
• A 10-2 Triton run extended the lead to 12 points (30-18) with 5:23 left in the first half after a 3-pointer by Gianni Dailey.  However, Eckerd again lost its offensive rhythm, turning the ball over three straight times and missing seven straight shots as Barry closed the gap with a 9-0 run.  Kristiyan Stavrev's jumper with 1:57 left provided EC's lone points in the final five minutes of the half, but the Tritons still took a 32-29 lead into halftime.
• Hagins scored Eckerd's first eight points of the second half at the lead grew to seven following his second 3-pointer.  Barry came back with an 11-3 run to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half, the first of 13 lead changes in the secnd half.
• A Stavrev 3-pointer broke a tie to give EC a 68-65 lead with 3:45 to play, and Stavrev again made another big shot from behind the arc with 2:07 left that put Eckerd ahead, 73-71.  That turned out to be EC's last field goal.  After Barry tied the game, Drushaun McLaurn went 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 1:07 to play for a 74-73 lead. Perez then made his go-ahead 3-pointer 25 seconds later and swatted a Marquis Gilbert shot on the other end. Eckerd's next two attempts were also blocked as Daniel Mortenson made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to go before Tylan Birts threw down a meaningless dunk in the final second to cap Barry's six-point victory.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• After holding Barry to 29 points in the first half, the Tritons didn't have as much luck containing the Bucs in the second half. Barry shot 58.1 percent in the final 20 minutes on the way to 51 points, the most EC has allowed in a half this season.
• Despite shooting the ball well from behind the arc (11-of-23), Eckerd shot just 36.1 percent for the game.  The Tritons went 11-for-38 from inside the arc.
• McLaurn led a group of five Tritons in double-figures with 16 points. Stavrev, Hagins, and Marco Behori each had 14 while Gilbert had 12.
• Barry dominated offensively inside, scoring 46 points in the paint to only 20 for Eckerd.

UP NEXT
The Tritons get a week off before heading to Tampa to take part in the University of Tampa Classic on December 18-19.  Eckerd will face Shaw (N.C.) on the 18th at 5:00 PM.