BOCA RATON, Fla. – They did all the little things right in the second half. For that, the Bucs take away a gratifying win over Missouri Western.
Barry rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Missouri Western, 68-64, Tuesday in the Lynn Courtyard by Marriott Holiday Classic. It snapped a two-game skid for the Buccaneers, who moved over the .500 mark at 4-3 overall this season.
The Buccaneers erased a seven-point halftime deficit quickly as Bryan Van Cott canned a triple and then scored in transition on a feed from Filip Toric to draw within two. Toric grabbed a rebound, raced end-to-end, curled the ball around his back in transition to Aaron Martin, who buried a three in the corner to put Barry ahead by three.
Missouri Western (4-5) went on a 5-0 run to take a 44-42 lead, but Barry responded with a 6-0 run of its own, touched off when Martin canned another three with 11:04 remaining to put the Bucs up, 48-44.
Justin McCoy sank two free throws to give the Buccaneers a nine-point lead with 5:20 to go. Cedric Clinkscales dunk in transition pulled Missouri Western within five, but Van Cott hit a triple to push Barry back up, 60-52.
McCoy sank two free throws before Griffons guard Reed Mells hit a triple with 22.3 seconds left to trim Barry’s lead to 64-60. But Toric sank three of four free throws, and the Buccaneers held on to win.
Martin hit five threes to finish with 15 points. McCoy had 16 points, sinking 8 of 10 free throws. Toric had nine rebounds, seven assists and six points. Van Cott scored 14 points, and Chad Renfro 14 points on 4 of 6 three-point shooting.
Clinkscales had 14 points, and Mells 13 for the Griffons.
Barry fell behind by as many as 16 twice in the first half, but whittled the gap down to nine when Aaron Martin knocked down a three-pointer with 2:22 to go. Renfro canned his third triple of the first half as he beat the buzzer to send the Buccaneers into the break down seven.
Barry was 7 of 15 from long range in the first half for 46.7 percent. Renfro was 3 for 3 from three-point range in the first half.
Missouri Western shot 50 percent in the first half, hitting 11 of 22 field goals.
Barry will play St. Martin’s at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in its final game of the Classic in Boca Raton.