Men's Basketball Stifles Spartans

Men's Basketball Stifles Spartans
Willie Whitfield had a strong game inside for the Bucs, tallying 11 points and 11 rebounds. Photo by JC Ridley

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Barry University men’s basketball team stayed with Tampa all night and made free throws down the stretch to defeat the Spartans in Sunshine State Conference play, 60-53, Saturday night at the Health and Sports Center.

After the fifth tie of the game at the 8:35 mark, the Bucs (9-14, 4-8 SSC) began to build a little bit of a lead.

Bryan Chiverton once again hustled all over the floor, as he darted inside for a layup, and then later added a free throw on the next trip down the floor to give Barry a five-point lead.

Willie Whitfield then brought the crowd to its feet with a huge dunk over a Spartan just 30 seconds later to expand the lead to five.

Whitfield tallied a layup on the following trip down the floor to give Barry their largest lead at seven.

Tampa (13-8, 6-5 SSC) closed the half strong, as they went on a 10-2 run over the final three minutes to take a one-point lead into the locker room.

The Bucs would once again start to break away slightly after the eighth tie of the game came at the 14:01 mark, Karega Tucker followed up his own miss with a layup, then drilled a trey from the top of the key next time down the floor to boost the lead back to five.

The Bucs jumped the lead to the largest of the night of eight just three minutes later as Zach Trapp hit a three-pointer.

Tampa would cut the lead down to two with a little under two minutes to play, but an Erick Nsangou layup and four free throws down the stretch sealed the victory.

Three Bucs scored in double-figures, as Tucker led the way with 14, while Whitfield added 11 and Nsangou tallied 10.

Chiverton had another strong game off the bench, recording nine points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes.

Barry will stay in SSC play this Wednesday when they host Nova Southeastern beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Newspaper Box Score
Tampa vs Barry
02/14/09 4:30 pm at Health and Sports Center
At Health and Sports Center

BARRY 60, TAMPA 53
TAMPA (13-8, 6-5 SSC)
CALLAWAY, Rashad 5-14 4-4 15; LABRUNO, Anthony 3-8 2-2 11; BALL, Johnathan
2-11 4-6 8; MORRISON, Marcus 3-4 1-1 7; TOMASZEWSKI, Matt 2-5 0-1 5; JEAN,
Rudy 1-2 0-0 3; ABREU, Arnaldo 0-1 2-4 2; WOODS, Fred 0-0 2-2 2; HUNTER,
Glyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 15-20 53.
BARRY (9-14, 4-8 SSC)
TUCKER, Karega 5-8 3-3 14; WHITFIELD, Willie 5-7 1-2 11; NSANGOU, Erick 3-8
4-4 10; CHIVERTON, Bryan 4-4 1-2 9; MADYUN, Jamaal 4-7 0-0 9; MORRIS, Jeran
1-3 2-2 4; TRAPP, Zach 1-7 0-0 3; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 0-2 0-0 0; VISINKIS,
Bartas 0-1 0-0 0; UZ, Chris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 11-13 60.
Tampa......................... 28 25 - 53
Barry......................... 27 33 - 60
3-point goals--Tampa 6-21 (LABRUNO, Anthony 3-7; CALLAWAY, Rashad 1-5; JEAN,
Rudy 1-2; TOMASZEWSKI, Matt 1-3; BALL, Johnathan 0-4), Barry 3-13 (MADYUN,
Jamaal 1-3; TRAPP, Zach 1-6; TUCKER, Karega 1-2; ASTIGARRAGA, Bryan 0-2).
Fouled out--Tampa-None, Barry-None. Rebounds--Tampa 22 (BALL, Johnathan 4;
TOMASZEWSKI, Matt 4), Barry 34 (WHITFIELD, Willie 11). Assists--Tampa 9
(CALLAWAY, Rashad 3; JEAN, Rudy 3), Barry 9 (CHIVERTON, Bryan 4). Total
fouls--Tampa 14, Barry 17. Technical fouls--Tampa-None, Barry-None. A-203