MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- No national rankings jinxes this time.
On a day Barry University men's basketball team received a No. 20 ranking in the NCAA Division II College Sports Information Directors of America poll and a No. 24 spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, the Buccaneers used a second half explosion to run away from Florida Memorial, 91-68, Tuesday night.
"In the second half our guys really started to share the ball, and the ball started moving," Barry assistant coach Justin Furr said. "We started to get a lot of great shots."
It was a night in which British Broadcasting Channel was on campus to film the basketball program, along with segments with the school's mascot Bucky for a documentary reality show expected to air in the spring.
It also was a night the Buccaneers appeared in the NABC national poll for the first time since being ranked No. 25 on Dec. 31, 2013, following a 9-0 start last season. The Bucs lost the first game after being ranked in the Top 25 a year ago, but this year they made good on their national respect.
Florida Memorial (0-3) led for different stretches in the first half, trading buckets with the Bucs (3-0). Barry had 15 field goals on 28 shots in the opening half. The Lions were 14 of 28 from the floor. Florida Memorial outrebounded the Buccaneers, 16-14, in the first half.
"We weren't expecting them to crash the boards the way we did," Barry senior guard Juan Ferrales said after scoring 17 points and a career-high six assists. "In the second half, we just made it a point of emphasis."
Barry won the rebound battle, 39-29, grabbing 10 on the offensive glass in the second half. The Bucs outscored the Lions, 47-32, in the second half.
Tied at 32-32 with 2:57 to play in the first half, Barry went on a 12-2 run when Ferrales, Yunio Barrueta and Arie Williams buried a combined four 3-pointers to take an eight-point lead into the break.
"I thought that stretch for us, that just showed the versatility of our team," Furr said. We can do it in bunches, and we can put on a run really quick."
The Bucs were 10 of 22 from 3-point range in a game that witnessed eight ties and nine lead changes -- all in the first half. Barry had 21 assists, including four each from Deric Hill and Anders Haas.
"In the preseason, we make it a point to try to teach our guys to share the ball," Furr said. "We're going to be the most unselfish team in the country, that's what we want to be."
Barrueta finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three assists. Hill had 10 points and two steals. Adrian Gonzalez finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, going 4 of 5 from the floor. Tray Leonard had 11 points, four boards and two blocks. Haas had nine points and three steals.
Samuel Dorismond had 21 points, and Shaquille Harding and Hanif Malloy each scored 10 for the Lions.
Six Bucs had at least two assists in a game Barry outscored Florida Memorial, 25-11, in transition.
"I think it's just the way we're playing," Ferrales said. "We are consciously making a point to be unselfish."
At the same time, the Lions gave the Buccaneers a wake-up call in the first half. Especially with Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez -- two Division II opponents looming in Friday and Saturday's Odio Thanksgiving Classic.
"I think today's game was probably perfect timing for us," Ferrales said. "We weren't expecting what they gave us. Now we've got to pick it up a little bit. It makes us realize we have to play our best game every game. Basically, we're competing against ourselves every game."