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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Justin McCoy authored the ultimate ending.
Barry’s junior guard buried a three-pointer with 3.3 seconds left, lifting the Buccaneers to their first road win of the season Saturday, 68-66 at Sunshine State Conference top-seed Eckerd College.
It snapped No. 27 Eckerd’s seven-game win streak, and put an end to Barry’s four-game slide. Now the Buccaneers (12-14, 6-8 SSC) host two games this week, beginning with Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tip against Rollins to close the regular season.
Emory Bennett scored on a low-post spin with 37 seconds remaining to give the Bucs a 65-63 lead. Eckerd’s Alex Bodney hit a three with 28 seconds left to give the Tritons a one-point lead. That set up McCoy’s dagger.
McCoy scored 21 points, going 8 of 14 from the floor. He connected on five of seven three-point attempts.
Derrick Bolanos and Chad Renfro hit consecutive three-point goals to give Barry a 39-34 lead a little over two minutes into the second half. Eckerd (18-6, 10-4) used a 6-0 run to take the lead. Bennett had a three-point play to put the Bucs back up, 44-43.
McCoy hit a spinning jumper from just inside the arc to give the Buccaneers a 52-50 lead with 5:22 left on the clock. Lance Kearse, who finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, hit a three for the Tritons a little over a minute later to give Eckerd a one-point lead. Damien Dwaine scored on a feed from McCoy at the 2:59 mark as Barry regained control, 58-55.
Renfro hit a three from the top of the key with 1:40 on the clock to keep Barry in front, 63-60. Kearse scored with 1:07 to play to tie the game at 63-63.
Jermaine Edwards blocked a shot on the defensive end and then scored on a putback as Barry knotted the game at 19-19 a little over the midway point in the first half. Eckerd scored the next five points before McCoy coaxed a three to drop to make it a two-point game.
McCoy was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Bennett converted a three-point play with 1:36 left in the first half to put the Bucs ahead, 30-29. Barry shot 40 percent in the first half, taking a 33-31 lead into halftime.
Bennett scored 15 points and grabbed seven boards. Dwaine had eight points and six boards. Renfro scored nine points.
Barry outrebounded Eckerd, 39-37. The Bucs hit nine of 19 three-pointers for 47.4 percent.