MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Jermaine Edwards tipped in a shot at the buzzer as Barry University beat Nova Southeastern, 51-50, Saturday.
"Jermaine Edwards was a workhorse today on both ends of the floor," Buccaneerss coach Cesar Odio said. "He had a huge block. He had an unbelievable tip-in at the end."
Edwards finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and six blocks as Barry beat the Sharks in typical local rival fashion. It marked the fourth time in the past five meetings either school has won on a buzzer-beater. Edwards blocked a shot by Tassy with seven seconds left. His career-high six blocks are a reason Barry is ranked 13th in the country in blocks per game.
Barry (10-10, 5-4 Sunshine State Conference) overcame a 17-for-49 shooting performance. Nova Southeastern (9-9, 4-5) hit 34 percent of its shots.
The Buccaneers led by six with 5:21 remaining when Damien Dwaine sank a pair of free throws. Dwaine finished with seven rebounds, four assists, five points and two steals. He also drew a couple critical charges that forced Nova turnovers.
"If he was 6-6, 6-7, he would be playing Division I somewhere," Odio said. "He's a soldier. He refuses to give in."
The Sharks tied the game at 45-45 on Shaun Pratl's bucket in the paint at the 3:02 mark, and then went ahead, 48-45, on Teddy Tassy's triple with 1:35 to play.
Evan White sank a pair of free throws to pull the Bucs within one with 49 seconds left, and Chad Renfro sank two of three free throws with 21 seconds left to push Barry back up one.
Tassy sank a pair of free throws with six seconds left as Nova climbed back ahead, 50-49.
Barry's Justin McCoy rushed up the right sideline, meandered into the lane and tried to coax a half-floater to go, but Edwards was there for the gamewinning tip, and Barry's fans were filled with exhilaration, some rushing the court.
"Typical, typical Barry-Nova game," Odio said. "It's tough when one of us has to lose a game like this. I have a lot of respect for (Nova coach) Gary Tuell. He runs a great program over there. It came down to one possession, and we were fortunate we had the ball last."
Pratl had 16 points, and Tassy 13. Derrick Bolanos and Renfro each scored nine for the Bucs, which overcame 11 triples by the Sharks.
Nova outrebounded Barry, 40-31, but the Bucs forced 20 turnovers, and scored 20 points off of the Sharks' giveaways.
In a game that featured 12 lead changes, Barry built an 11-point advantage at the 16:31 mark in the first half only to fall behind by six 14:10 later.
The Buccaneers, which hosts Palm Beach Atlantic Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., fed off the energy of their fans.
"What a great college basketball game," Odio said. "The fans were great."