LAKELAND, Fla.—A strong defensive effort by the Buccaneers was not enough on a night in which Barry (9-5, 4-1 SSC) struggled offensively. The Florida Southern Mocs defeated the Bucs 63-60 in overtime Saturday afternoon in a battle of two of the top three teams in the conference. The Buccaneer’s entered the day unblemished in conference play and the Mocs held down the third spot with a 3-2 mark, but conference wins on the road are tough to come by and Barry was unable to steal one in Jenkins Field House on this night.
The first half was a struggle offensively for both teams as the Mocs jumped out to an early 9-3 lead capped by a Michaela Hawley bucket at the 16:12. Alex Zamora was limited to just three minutes in the half as she picked up two quick fouls and was quickly replaced by Brooke Keeton.
The Bucs would answer with a 10-2 run after a Glaucia Lehn layup at the 9:38 mark to give them the two point lead, however, the Mocs (12-4, 4-2 SSC) would regain the advantage and would go on to lead by as many as seven.
Both teams shot under forty percent from the field in the first half ,with the Bucs shooting thirty-five percent including 0-5 from beyond the arch, but it was Florida Southern’s dominance on the boards and a pair of three point baskets that resulted in a five point advantage heading in to the intermission.
A re-energized Buccaneer squad in the second half slowly climbed back in to the game by forcing turnovers as a result of a full court press and an offensive spark from Keeton off the bench. An 11-0 run capped off by a Keeton three point conversion pulled Barry within one with just under eleven minutes to play.
Both teams would trade buckets throughout the remainder of the half and the Bucs found themselves tied at 52 with ten seconds left, but a three point look from Suttington rimmed out to force an overtime.
In the extra period the Mocs led by as many as five, and even so, the Bucs would have an opportunity down three with just over one second on the clock but Jackie Perez was unable to get a shot off.
The Buccaneers finished shooting 34 percent from the floor and 0-13 from downtown, it was their stringent defense that forced 20 Moccasin’s turnovers resulting in 20 points on the other end of the floor that kept Barry in the game.
Three players finished in double figures for the Bucs as Danielle DeBerry finished with 13 points, Shanna Suttington chipped in 10 points and Keeton contributed with 11 points and three blocks off the bench.
The Mocs were led by Michaela Hawley, the conference’s leading scorer, with a game high 30 points despite playing the majority of the second half and overtime in foul trouble. Morgan Lamberg added 12, and Taylor Maldonado chipped in eight for Florida Southern.
The loss was the first in SSC play for the Buccaneers, snapping their three game winning streak.
Barry now turns to Rollins, the pre-season favorites to finish a-top the SSC in a matchup of the first and second place teams in the league. The Buccaneers will travel to Winter Park Wednesday night with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. Live-stat and video broadcast is available through the Barry University website, GOBARRYBUCS.COM.