MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University men’s basketball team held off a pesky Florida Tech team, 75-68, Wednesday night to open the season with a school-record 12-1 start.
It came on a night the No. 5/7 Buccaneers didn’t shoot particularly well, but they made just enough plays to remain unbeaten at 4-0 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Barry was 25 of 70 from the floor for a season-low 35.7 percent shooting. Florida Tech (10-5, 0-4 SSC) hit 45 percent of its shots, going 27 of 60.
The Bucs trailed by as many as nine in the first half. Barry was behind at the half for just the second time this season. Savad Garner scored the Bucs’ first seven points, and grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first half.
Deric Hill hit a half-court buzzer-beating three just inside the timeline to send the Bucs into the break down, 37-35.
Barry’s Yunio Barrueta canned a triple to open the second half, giving the Buccaneers their first lead since less than three minutes into the game. Jordan Majors’ dunk 1:45 into the second half put the Panthers back in front by three before Hill buried a triple to tie it at 41-41.
After Corbin Jackson scored to put Florida Tech ahead, 45-44, Barrueta hit a jumper in the paint to give the lead back to Barry. Arie Williams steal and no-look alley-oop pass to Jevoni Robinson, who finished off the play with a thunderous dunk, gave Barry a three-point lead with 13:18 to play.
Florida Tech went on a 8-0 run to open up a five-point lead, but the Buccaneers used an 11-4 run to take a 59-57 lead on Anders Haas’ triple with 6:44 to play. Haas buried another triple at the 4:58 mark to push the Bucs ahead by four. Williams 3-pointer gave the Bucs a seven-point lead at the 3:42 mark.
Jermaine Jackson scored with 1:33 remaining to cut Barry’s lead to three, but Hill sank four straight free throws, and Juan Ferrales hit two more to push the lead back to seven, and Florida Tech couldn’t recover.
Jermaine Jackson had 19 points, Chris Carter 18, and Corbin Jackson 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Panthers.
Haas finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Hill had 10 points and five assists. Ferrales scored 12 points, and Robinson had 10 points, 10 boards and three blocks. Barrueta grabbed 13 rebounds and scored seven points. Garner had nine points and six boards.
“We just got to stay focused and keep believing in each other,” Haas said.
The Buccaneers host Nova Southeastern at 4 p.m. Saturday.
ARIE WILLIAMS ALLEY-OOP TO JEVONI ROBINSON