BOCA RATON, Fla. – With a bounce in their step, the Buccaneers bounced back heading into the break.
Barry University men’s basketball team responded from a close loss a night earlier and held on to beat Missouri S&T, 54-50, Monday to conclude the Lynn University Holiday Classic. The win, Barry’s second in three games, came despite the absence of three regulars.
Barry (5-7) enters the holiday break with a long layoff before resuming Sunshine State Conference play against Lynn on Jan. 4 at the Health & Sports Center.
The Buccaneers built a 10-point lead in the first half only to watch Missouri S&T (1-10) cut the gap to four, 30-26, at the break. Barry crept back up by nine on a triple by Justin McCoy at the 15:10 mark in the second half. Emory Bennett, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds, scored with 14:19 to play to keep the Bucs ahead, 41-32.
The Miners responded with an 11-0 run over the next 6:49, capped off by a pair of Michael Jackson free throws to push Missouri S&T in front for the first time. Vladimir Raymonvil’s leaner in the lane at the 5:33 mark put an end to an 8:46 scoring drought, allowing the Bucs to tie the game at 43-43.
Following Justin McCoy’s layup with 4:55 on the clock to keep the game knotted at 45-45, Barry used a 5-0 run on a workman-like three-point play by Damien Dwaine and a hoop in the paint by Bennett to push the Bucs ahead for good.
Missouri S&T’s Bryce Foster, son of 1984 United States Olympic Silver Medalist hurdler Greg Foster, knocked down his fourth triple with 2:52 to go to pull the Miners within a bucket. But McCoy and Evan White each sank a pair of free throws during a 1:03 span to help the Bucs preserve the win.
Foster finished with 18 points, 13 of which came in the first half, on 7 of 18 shooting. Carlton Westbrook scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Miners.
White had 12 points and five rebounds, and Bryan Van Cott and McCoy each scored nine for Barry, which shot 16 of 18 from the free throw line for 84.6 percent. Jermaine Edwards grabbed seven of the Buccaneers’ 35 rebounds, and had three blocks in 24 minutes.
Barry outscored Missouri S&T, 16-6, in bench points, converting 15 Miners turnovers into 17 points.