MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The Barry University men’s basketball fed off the home court early in the first half, but Tampa countered the attack later in the first half and held on down the stretch to defeat the Bucs, 61-50, in the quarterfinal round of the BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Championships Wednesday night at the Health and Sports Center.
Barry (13-15) jumped out to a six-point lead six minutes in after a jumper by senior Karega Tucker gave the Bucs an 11-5 advantage.
Tampa (16-11) continued to narrow the lead down several times, but each time the Bucs would keep the lead at six.
Senior Bryan Astigarraga answered a three-pointer by Tampa with one of his own to keep the lead at six.
Then after the Spartans whittled the lead back down to four, sophomore Willie Whitfield made a jumper in the paint to give the Bucs a lead of six again.
After the Bucs had their lead at six for the fourth time in the first half, Tampa began to come on strong.
A three by Matt Tomaszewski and a layup by Anthony LaBruno gave the Spartans their first lead since the 17:36 mark with eight minutes to play in the first half.
With the lead as large as nine, Barry closed the final two minutes strong, as an Erick Nsangou layup had the Bucs to within two, but a Rashad Callaway three at the buzzer built the lead back to five for Tampa at halftime.
Tampa built their largest lead of 13 at the 16:07 of the second half on a jumper by Arnaldo Abreu.
Barry kept fighting, as they muscled the lead back to five on a layup by Jeran Morris, then after a jumper by Nsangou, Bryan Chiverton cashed in a jumper to trim the lead to one with a little under six minutes to go in the game.
Barry regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Jamaal Madyun with 5:10 left in the contest.
But Tampa came through with big outside shots, as Tomaszewski hit a three to build the lead to six, then LaBruno hit one a minute later with the shot clock running down to give Tampa a nine-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Tucker led the Bucs offensively, as he tallied 15 points and five rebounds. Nsangou added 13 points and five boards.
Tampa’s Callaway led all scorers with 17 points and Marcus Morrison tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Wednesday’s game was the final game for three Barry seniors, including Tucker, Madyun and Astigarraga.
Newspaper Box Score
Tampa vs Barry
03/04/09 7:00 p.m. at Miami Shores, FL
At Miami Shores, FL
TAMPA 61, BARRY 50
TAMPA (16-11, 8-8 SSC)
CALLAWAY, Rashad 5-14 4-6 17; MORRISON, Marcus 5-6 5-10 15; TOMASZEWSKI,
Matt 4-8 0-0 12; LABRUNO, Anthony 2-4 6-7 11; ABREU, Arnaldo 1-5 1-2 3;
BALL, Johnathan 1-1 1-2 3; HUNTER, Glyn 0-2 0-0 0; JEAN, Rudy 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 18-40 17-27 61.
BARRY (13-15, 8-8 SSC)
TUCKER, Karega 5-14 5-7 15; NSANGOU, Erick 5-15 3-5 13; TRAPP, Zach 2-6 0-0
6; WHITFIELD, Willie 2-2 0-0 4; UZ, Chris 1-2 0-0 3; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 1-2
0-0 3; MADYUN, Jamaal 0-2 2-3 2; CHIVERTON, Bryan 1-1 0-0 2; MORRIS, Jeran
1-3 0-0 2; VISINKIS, Bartas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 10-15 50.
Tampa......................... 33 28 - 61
Barry......................... 28 22 - 50
3-point goals--Tampa 8-19 (TOMASZEWSKI, Matt 4-8; CALLAWAY, Rashad 3-7;
LABRUNO, Anthony 1-2; HUNTER, Glyn 0-2), Barry 4-13 (TRAPP, Zach 2-6;
ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 1-1; UZ, Chris 1-2; MADYUN, Jamaal 0-2; TUCKER, Karega
0-2). Fouled out--Tampa-None, Barry-None. Rebounds--Tampa 31 (MORRISON,
Marcus 11), Barry 29 (TUCKER, Karega 5; NSANGOU, Erick 5). Assists--Tampa 11
(CALLAWAY, Rashad 5), Barry 8 (MADYUN, Jamaal 2; NSANGOU, Erick 2). Total
fouls--Tampa 12, Barry 19. Technical fouls--Tampa-None, Barry-None. A-234
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Sunshine State Conference
Basketball Championship -- Quarterfinal
Tampa advances to play the Florida Southern/Florida Tech winner
on Saturday in the semifinals