ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--The Barry Buccaneers dropped a heart-breaking 71-66 overtime decision to the Eckerd Tritons in Sunshine State Conference men's basketball action in the McArthur Center Wednesday night.
The Buccaneers (9-8, 2-5 SSC), playing with only nine players due to injuries, forged a 10-point halftime lead behind 13 points from Ryan Saunders who shot five-of-seven and three-for-three from long range.
But in the second half, the Tritons (15-3, 5-2 SSC) gradually chipped away at the lead, taking their first lead when Damone Morris stole the ball and completed a three-point play then nailed their only three-pointer of the game on the Tritons next possession to give Eckerd a 49-47 lead with 8:56 left in the second half.
The Tritons built a six-point lead, 56-50 with 4:50 remaining, but Barry came back to take a 59-58 advantage with just 0:32 seconds remaining on a Felipe Barrios layup. On the ensuing possession, Saunders was whistled for a foul and Andre King-Holland hit one of two free throws to tie the game.
In the overtime, Eckerd jumped out to a 67-60 lead and cruised to a five-point win.
Saunders, who had topped his season-high with 13 points in the first half, finished with 19 points to lead the Bucs. Amadou Fall added 14 points. King-Holland and Morris each scored 18 to lead Eckerd.
The Bucs travel to Tampa to face the Spartans in the Martinez Center on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4:00 pm.
Newspaper Box Score
Barry vs Eckerd
01/25/06 7:45PM at St. Petersbuurg, FL
At St. Petersbuurg, FL
ECKERD 71, BARRY 66
BARRY (9-8, 2-5 SSC)
SAUNDERS, Ryan 8-12 0-1 19; FALL, Amadou 7-10 0-2 14; PUCCIA, Phil 4-14 1-1
9; BARRIOS, Felipe 4-12 0-0 9; YOUNG, Eddie 2-9 3-8 7; WILLIS, Jeff 2-3 0-0
5; WHITE, Otis 1-4 1-2 3; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 5-14
66.
ECKERD (15-3, 5-2 SSC)
KING-HOLLAND, Andre 7-14 4-5 18; MORRIS, Damone 7-12 3-3 18; HAZEL, Craig
6-8 1-3 13; CENATUS, Matt 4-12 1-3 9; WASHINGTON, Marcus 4-8 0-0 8; MADDUX,
Chris 2-5 1-1 5; HENDERSEN, James 0-1 0-0 0; HENNEGAN, Will 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 30-62 10-15 71.
Barry......................... 37 22 7 - 66
Eckerd........................ 27 32 12 - 71
3-point goals-Barry 5-16 (SAUNDERS, Ryan 3-4; BARRIOS, Felipe 1-4; WILLIS,
Jeff 1-2; YOUNG, Eddie 0-1; WHITE, Otis 0-2; PUCCIA, Phil 0-3), Eckerd 1-9
(MORRIS, Damone 1-3; HAZEL, Craig 0-1; CENATUS, Matt 0-3; HENDERSEN, James
0-1; KING-HOLLAND, Andre 0-1). Fouled out--Barry-None, Eckerd-None.
Rebounds-Barry 30 (BARRIOS, Felipe 8), Eckerd 46 (HAZEL, Craig 14).
Assists-Barry 13 (BARRIOS, Felipe 4; PUCCIA, Phil 4), Eckerd 13
(KING-HOLLAND, Andre 6). Total fouls-Barry 15, Eckerd 15. A-260
