Davie, Fla.— The Barry University men’s basketball team dropped a 66-59 heartbreaker to Rollins College in the championship game of the BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The Tars proved too strong down the stretch, converting five of six free-throws in the final minute to help them to the win.
The Bucs jumped out to a 10-0 lead off with the help of two Erick Nsangou jumpers and a pair of Zack Trapp three-pointers. The Tars took the next six points off of two Myk Brown layups and a Matt Robertson jumper.
With 3:42 remaining in the first, Myk Brown intercepted a Buccaneer pass and made a layup to bring the Tars within two points, 27-25. A little more than a minute later, the Tars took their first lead of the game, 28-27, off a Brock Blanchard three-pointer with 2:11 remaining. The Tars entered halftime up 31-29.
The tars opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 38-31 lead. Four minutes into the second half, the Tars held a 40-32 lead, their largest of the game to that point.
Yet the Bucs showed renewed life, tying the game at 42 apiece after a 6-0 run. Tony Dennison stole the ball and converted a layup followed by a Chad Bishop tip-in off a Trapp missed shot. With 11:11 remaining, Marvin Davis drove the lane for a layup to force the tie.
The Tars again built a small lead, up 57-50 with 4:06 remaining after two Nikola Baran free throws. The Bucs remained persistent, fighting back and cutting the lead to three, 61-58, with 1:00 remaining after a Nsangou layup.
With less than a minute to play, Willie Whitfield cut it to two, 61-59 after going one-for-one from the free-throw line. However the Tars were solid down the stretch, sinking their free-throws to propel them to the 66-59 win.
For the Buccaneers, Dennison had 16 points. Nsangou chipped in with 12 while Trapp had 11. All three were named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts in the tournament.
The championship game will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis on Comcast Charter Sports Southeast and Bright House Sports Network. Visit the Sunshine State Conference for dates and times.
Barry now waits to see if they will qualify for the South Regional Tournament which will take place next weekend. Buccaneer fans can visit the NCAA website to watch the live selection show tonight at 7:00 pm.
Newspaper Box Score
Barry vs Rollins
03/07/10 1:00 p.m. at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (University Center)
At Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (University Center)
ROLLINS 66, BARRY 59
BARRY (19-11)
DENNISON, Tony 6-11 2-2 16; NSANGOU, Erick 6-14 0-0 12; TRAPP, Zack 4-10 0-0
11; WHITFIELD, Willie 4-5 1-3 9; DAVIS, Marvin 2-3 2-2 6; CHIVERTON, Bryan
1-2 1-2 3; BISHOP, Chad 1-3 0-0 2; BENDEKE, Julien 0-1 0-0 0; WHITE, Evan
0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 6-9 59.
ROLLINS (25-5)
BROWN, Myk 5-10 6-6 16; BARAN, Nikola 4-7 4-4 14; WOLF, Nick 5-12 2-2 13;
SCOTT, Ian 4-5 4-5 12; BLANCHARD, Brock 1-1 1-2 4; ROBERTSON, Matt 1-2 2-2
4; FERRANTI, Ryan 1-2 1-2 3; WILKISON, Julian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-40 20-23
66.
Barry......................... 29 30 - 59
Rollins....................... 31 35 - 66
3-point goals--Barry 5-16 (TRAPP, Zack 3-9; DENNISON, Tony 2-4; BISHOP, Chad
0-1; WHITE, Evan 0-2), Rollins 4-13 (BARAN, Nikola 2-4; WOLF, Nick 1-2;
BLANCHARD, Brock 1-1; FERRANTI, Ryan 0-1; WILKISON, Julian 0-1; SCOTT, Ian
0-1; BROWN, Myk 0-3). Fouled out--Barry-DENNISON, Tony, Rollins-None.
Rebounds--Barry 25 (WHITFIELD, Willie 5; DENNISON, Tony 5), Rollins 24
(WOLF, Nick 5). Assists--Barry 7 (NSANGOU, Erick 4), Rollins 13 (SCOTT, Ian
3; ROBERTSON, Matt 3). Total fouls--Barry 16, Rollins 12. Technical
fouls--Barry-None, Rollins-None. A-378
2010 BCBS SSC Tournament Championship