MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Barry University men’s basketball team (7-18, 1-12 SSC) ended an 11-game losing skid against Sunshine State Conference opponents with a 60-55 upset win over the 13th-ranked Tampa Spartans (16-6, 9-4 SSC) during homecoming at the Health & Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
Coming into the game, Tampa was averaging 75.3 points per game. However, the Buccaneer defense stifled the Spartans’ potent offense holding them to a mere 55 points for the win. Karega Tucker scored 20 to lead the Bucs to their first SSC win of the season, while Willie Whitfield scored a career-high 18 points and added a game-high nine rebounds.
The Buccaneers shot 46 percent from the field in the game including a blazing 52.2 percent field goal percentage in the second half.
Both teams struggled on the perimeter so both went to their big men in the post in the first half. Whitfield scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half, while Tampa’s Jeremy Black scored 12. Tampa led the way until Bryan Chiverton broke away for a lay-up at the 8:27 mark to tie the game at 16-16. Both teams exchanged baskets and were tied on two more occasions before Gabe Lazo came off the bench to hit a buzzer beater from just beyond half court to give Barry a 28-25 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Bucs extended their lead to 32-25 just 1:01 into the period. The Spartans finally managed to bounce back and regain the lead at the 12:33 mark. Both teams then traded points down the stretch until Chad Bishop nailed a three-pointer with 1:27 to play to give Barry a 56-55 which they never relinquished to end an 11-game dry spell.
Black led the Spartans with 22 points, while Chris King added 10. Black and Chris Evans collected seven rebounds each to lead Tampa on the boards.
The Buccaneers will return to action on Monday, Feb. 18 hosting Flagler in non-conference action at the Health & Sports Center at 7:30 pm.
Newspaper Box Score
Tampa vs Barry
02/16/08 4:00 pm at Miami Shores, FL (Health & Sports Center)
BARRY 60, TAMPA 55
TAMPA (16-6, 9-4 SSC)
BLACK, Jeremy 7-14 8-10 22; KING, Chris 1-6 8-9 10; BALL, Johnathan 4-11 0-0
9; CALLAWAY, Rashad 3-8 0-0 8; EVANS, Chris 1-5 0-0 3; DAVIS, A.J. 1-4 0-0
2; MASCIO, Scott 0-2 1-2 1; BAKER, Jason 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 17-21 55.
BARRY (7-18, 1-12 SSC)
TUCKER, Karega 8-14 3-4 20; WHITFIELD, Willie 8-14 2-3 18; BISHOP, Chad 3-6
0-0 7; LAZO, Gabe 2-6 1-2 7; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 1-1 2-2 4; CHIVERTON, Bryan
1-5 1-2 3; DE LA VEGA, Uli 0-2 1-2 1; WILLIS, Jeff 0-2 0-0 0; UZ, Chris 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 23-50 10-15 60.
Tampa......................... 25 30 - 55
Barry......................... 28 32 - 60
3-point goals--Tampa 4-23 (CALLAWAY, Rashad 2-5; BALL, Johnathan 1-5; EVANS,
Chris 1-4; BAKER, Jason 0-1; DAVIS, A.J. 0-2; KING, Chris 0-4; BLACK, Jeremy
0-2), Barry 4-15 (LAZO, Gabe 2-5; BISHOP, Chad 1-3; TUCKER, Karega 1-4; DE
LA VEGA, Uli 0-2; WILLIS, Jeff 0-1). Fouled out--Tampa-None, Barry-None.
Rebounds--Tampa 35 (BLACK, Jeremy 7; EVANS, Chris 7), Barry 30 (WHITFIELD,
Willie 9). Assists--Tampa 8 (KING, Chris 2; BAKER, Jason 2; CALLAWAY, Rashad
2), Barry 14 (CHIVERTON, Bryan 3; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 3; TUCKER, Karega 3).
Total fouls--Tampa 13, Barry 19. Technical fouls--Tampa-None, Barry-None.
A-613