LAKELAND, Fla. – In a game the Buccaneers led most of the way, Barry let one slip away Saturday at Florida Southern.
Barry went cold down the stretch and fell to the host Moccasins, 47-44.
Kaley Howard scored in the paint with 13:39 to play to give the Bucs a nine-point lead. Florida Southern cut it to five, but Colette Eule converted a three-point play to push Barry’s lead back to eight.
Florida Southern’s Morgan Lamberg scored at the 8:33 mark to pull the Mocs within 40-36. FSC’s Kirstin McIntyre split a pair from the free throw line to cut it to two. Eule scored as the shot clock wore down to pad the Buccaneers lead back to four with 4:51 remaining. Kaley Howard canned a jumper to make it 44-39.
The Mocs took the lead, 45-44, with 1:41 left on the clock when Lamberg scored off a steal. Melanie Ducott scored to give Florida Southern a three-point lead with 20 seconds remaining. And Barry couldn’t convert on its final possession.
Eule scored 13 points on 4 of 11 field goals and 5 of 6 free throws. Tyler Hardy finished with 10 points and six rebounds, scoring eight in the first half. Howard had seven points and six boards.
Lamberg scored 13 for the Mocs. McIntyre and Tracy Fosterling each had 10.
The Buccaneers (7-3, 0-2 Sunshine State Conference) shot 30.8 percent from the field, converting 16 of 52. Florida Southern (7-4, 2-0) were 16 of 47 for 34 percent.
Barry couldn’t get a field goal to fall in the final 4:06.
The Bucs and Mocs each grabbed 37 rebounds.
Hardy scored on a low-post spin at the 4:00 mark to give Barry a 22-13 lead in the first half.
Barry forced Florida Southern into four shot clock violations in the first half, using tight defense to cause fits for the Moccasins on the offensive end. The Buccaneers held the Mocs to 6 of 23 field goal shooting in the first half. Florida Southern was 0 of 5 from three-point range in the first half.
The Bucs outscored the Mocs, 16-8, in the paint in the first half.